Saturday, November 3, 2007

iPhone for $125?



iClones Threaten Apple's iPhone Rollout In Asia :- Time Magazine's have named the iPhone the "Invention of the Year."

The iPhone, which has yet to launch in the UK, also took top place in Stuff’s Cool List 2007.

For information, Apple's iPhones and iPods are manufactured in China by Hon Hai Precision Industry Company. They are the world's largest contract maker of electronics and have close to 500,000 employees.

In Taiwan, you could buy an "iPhone" six months before the official debut of the much-anticipated multimedia mobile in the United States. The iClones, as they have become known, sell for about $250 dollars in Taiwan, and only $125 in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Most iClones are being sold online to customers in Japan, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore — basically any market that's got severe iPhone fever. Apple doesn't intend to premier the iPhone in Asia until sometime in 2008 according to preliminary reports, so the opportunity is just too good to deny for underground manufacturers.

Some iClones are good enough to fake the most casual observers, right down to the Apple logo on the back. However, careful inspection reveals obvious differences.

Apple is well aware of the problem and has several methods for reporting illicit hardware on their website. However, with little means of actively policing China, very little can be done to stop the wanton pirating.

Comments:- a)It is very difficult to stop people from buying a clone mobile phone, be it iphone or nokia N95 or motto , they (purchasers) are fully aware of it. Surely,it can't be an original - at three times cheaper, you can't blame them though!

b)I've heard some of the iphone clones are with Windows Mobile OS (hah!) and are slightly smaller in size (many have complaint the original iphone is too big for Asian liking). So you can't call it an Apple's iPhone clone...it's look like it but definetly not a clone!


c) There is a UK website selling cheap phones online...Apple and Nokia..check it out!