Chinese iPhone Knock-Offs Reaching Western Shores?
By Eli Milchman (11:54 pm, Feb. 19, 2010)
While Apple has relaxed its grip on a few things recently, no, the image above isn’t a sign that One Infinite Loop has let all hell break loose.
Apparently, it’s an example of an alternate-reality iPhone the friend of blogger Steve Cassidy over at the UK’s PC Pro bought for £25 (about $38) — in a pub, no less. The dual-SIM, dual-battery thing apparently looks and feels much like an iPhone (apart from the icons, which look too bizarre even for a jailbroken unit), says Cassidy, down to the “iPhone” and Apple logo emblazoned on the back.
One of the comments to his post suggested that cheap knock-offs like this one can be acquired here; a quick look showed at least half-a-dozen or so clones.
Here’s a great clip demonstrating one of the phones in highly enthusiastic yet (to me) unintelligible Mandarin or Cantonese.
The question is, then — if these clones are so readily available and cheap, why aren’t we seeing more of them?
Posted by Eli Milchman in News | Comment on this article
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I’m surprised they haven’t copied the guts of the iPhone as well as the OS [ie, installed a cracked version of the OS].
dave, on February 20th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Watch this phone clip. This is real rap from China. Hotest song on streets right now!!! Way better than your Vanilla Ice.
Bong shin see you toon now ha ha ha
Xiejac, on February 20th, 2010 at 12:53 am
The reason that you don’t see them much outside of China is that although they are functioning phones, they don’t work very well. On many, you have to really press the screen hard to make it register your touch. I see most of them while walking around on the street and with the population that you might consider to be of lower means. Walk into any Starbucks and you’ll basically only see real ones. I have, once in three years, come across a fake that was very very good. It was also very very expensive (not much cheaper than a real one).
David, on February 20th, 2010 at 1:19 am
They are for sale on Amazon UK,from reading the user reviews they are total crap..
poppa, on February 20th, 2010 at 3:22 am
From experience with buy cheapo knock-offs with all these ‘features’ for 50 bucks….. the phone lasts about 6-12 months before failing of falling apart… which is why they are fifty bucks…
Mind you when you arrive n the shop they are trying to sell it to you for 300 until you get it down to ‘bottom price’
Rob, on February 20th, 2010 at 4:51 am
Uh….not sure about the phone but but listening to that “rap” was *painful*.
Stevo, on February 20th, 2010 at 7:17 am
If these knock-off producers are so clever, why can’t they come up with something good, original, and innovative? What’s with all the constant ripping other people off?
Alfred, on February 20th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Looks like something Microsoft would make. All it’s missing is a red ring of death.
By the way, that video rocks!!!!
Sean, on February 20th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
They’re missing the whole point. Wait until someone tries to download something from the App Store and get zilch. iTMS is 50% of all Apple mobile devices. Who needs half of a product for even $50.
iphonerulez, on February 20th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
It is very expensive to produce something original because of the R&D involved in the creation of the product from scratch. R&D budget makes up a significant part of the budget before a product launch. It is much cheaper to borrow and copy from a successful model. However the copy is never as effective as the real thing especially when the product works best when supported by the kind of ecosystem that Apple has built all around its iPods, iPhones and soon to come iPad lines. No one in this industry has the kind of vertically integrated technologies so successfully wrapped around its hardwares. It just worked wonderfully and if something does not, the user knows where to take it to in order to make it work properly.
Jocca, on February 20th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
pure junk.
nacra, on February 20th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Have seen various versions of the knockoffs. They don’t work very well.
ObamaPacman, on February 20th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
i have tried many of these phones over the years well since the first iPhone came out, they may look the part but the user interface is slow and the use of some of the parts of the user interface is not that good ie: try to get it to display a caller name and number when someone rings you was a pain, and a long hard job but it can be done, if you can’t afford an iPhone try one of these clone phones you will wish you had an iPhone, you can’t use the apps from the apps store, unless they come from a site or, cd where they have been made to work on one of these phones,
on the good side:
you can change the battery, add more memory, you get a pointer device on some, its dual sim on some, and best of all if you drop it etc its not going to break the bank to buy another, as for putting things on them like movies and music its quite easy just drag and drop no need for itunes.
I now have an iPhone
hal-9000, on February 20th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
A friend has one of these and its crap. The only thing it does well is calls all the apps are 2nd rate at best and the screen is nominally responsive at best. As far as the music is concerned Jay Chou he is not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF7iZwweFGs
Tye, on February 22nd, 2010 at 9:39 am
I’m an expat living in Shanghai and believe it or not, they are real. And while they are clearly under performers compared to Apple, for the price, they are passable. My colleagues (both local and expat) have bought them and for less than 1/2 the price of a real iPhone, it works. It lacks the spit and polish of Apple’s enough to make a noticeable difference (I have a real one).
But, people tend to believe copies are usually terrible fakes. While many are, there truly are ones that are pretty close to the original. The iPhone is relatively new and the technologies difficult to replicate but in the short year that my family and I have been out here I have seem them get really good.
I would not be surprised to see a really well working model within another year.
For many locals in China (and other poorer areas of the world for that matter) who simply cannot afford the full Apple experience…this will likely just do unless Apple’s lawyers get them off the street somehow. On Shanghai’s streets, the fakes outweigh the real iPhones by 4:5 easily. But a couple companies HTC and do-pod makes theirs different enough to please lawyers but actually works pretty well (and actually better for the Chinese language) and is much cheaper even for a real one. So, soon, whether people buy Apple’s products will be moot.
I am a die-hard Apple fan (everything I own is Apple)…but the truth is while Apple has tremendous value most people in China are not capable of even buying Starbucks coffee. And in China, the iPhone costs more than in the US and without WIFI…so, naturally, the fake ones that work 85% as well as the original at half the price with WIFI and 3G will sell better.
Christo, on February 22nd, 2010 at 9:40 am
lets go out sometime soon.
jess
jess, on March 14th, 2010 at 1:18 am
I always focus on Chinese mobile phones in Vkamobi, and it’s quite cool as this article say
Vkamobi, on July 5th, 2010 at 8:28 pm