Knockoff mobile phones such as Apple (hi-phone), Nokia (Nckia), Samsung (Sumsang), that sometimes explode or have high radiation, are immensely popular in China, 20 percent of this biggest market in the world! The phones are also exported to Russia, India, Middle East, Europe and US. David Barboza wrote an article about it: ‘In China, Knockoff Cellphones Are a Hit’ for the NYT, read here.
Mr Barboza explains why it is easy to produce a knockoff mobile phone in China for about 20 US dollar:
- Since 2005 came Mediatek, a Taiwanese semiconductor design company with a turnkey solution that can be used as a platform to produce low cost mobile phones;
- Since 2007 no license is needed to manufacture a cellphone;
- If you are a manufacturer of these so called Shan Zhai Ji (Mountain Bandit Machines), you are not going to pay value-added tax of 17 percent of the revenues;
- Tapping in the supply chains is not difficult, because there are manufacturers that cannot resist a request to run a night shift.
New Chinese brands emerge, such as Meizu, that aspire to emulate Apple. More information about Shan Zhai Ji, read here.
