Beware of Fake iPhones!

Bangalore: The iPhone5, the most awaited product of Apple is available in China Market with one obvious condition ‘it’s fake’.   This fact was revealed when a sudden sweep of electronics markets was done recently by Fuzhou authorities and discovered vendors who are selling this ‘all-new iPhone 5’ named “Hi iPhone5”.

China market already has a perfect fake of iPhone 4 named SoPhone. This SoPhone looks exactly similar to the original iPhone and has features like “Multitasking”, search, and even moving “apps” into folders with drag-and-drop companied with an original looking UI. This fake phone is powered by MTK6235 chipset, and comes with a 3.5-inch (480 X 320) capacitive touchscreen, 4GB of flash storage, front and rear camera with 2 megapixels, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and removable 1400mAh battery. However it dosen’t have retina display, a micro SD card slot and also lags in battery performance. These fake phones cost around 2,000 yuan ($313) to produce and are sold around 4,000 yuan ($626), which is just only few dollars cheaper than original iPhones.

Moreover there is a report which says that there are fake Apple stores in China, which sells all fake Apple products. The look a feel of these stores are so similar to original Apple stores that customers are can’t make out.  This fakery issue in China has caused concern for the brand image of Apple as people started complaining that Apple is selling used iPhone as new.

The recent reaction of Beijing customers due to the delay in the launch of iPhone4S shows how desperate and eager they are to have an Apple iPhone4S. Customers pelted eggs on Apple store shouting ‘Liars’ as the store was not opened on the launch day due to security reasons.  So there lies a market of people who want to have this tech-luxury but can’t afford or is price sensitive and the fakes rule this market.