
Marvel At the Ingenuity of the Chinese iPhoney - joshwa
http://cultofmac.com/marvel-at-the-ingenuity-of-the-chinese-iphoney-knockoffs-now-near-perfect/12286
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tedunangst
Good for Apple? The more people get burned by counterfeits, the less likely
future buyers will be to get gray market versions, or even buy the phone
anywhere other than a real deal Apple store.

~~~
TrevorJ
It also keeps the price of the real phones pretty sticky because now
cheep=fake in the minds of informed consumers.

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emontero1
If anything, this just reinforces the iPhone's popularity. Let's think about
it. What are copycats and cheap knockoffs really doing to Apple's brand?
They're paying homage. That's all they're doing.

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seldo
Hardly. By creating inferior products with Apple logos, they are giving
consumers a bad experience and poisoning Apple's brand. Paying homage to the
design is what HTC, Nokia and co. are doing by copying the design innovations
of the iPhone.

Counterfeit makers are just crooks. If you think your device is good, make it
under your own name.

~~~
anigbrowl
It's not that simple. Yes, counterfeiters are being crooked, but they can not
simply compete on merit because they don't have a branding and advertising
machine available to them.

I'm not talking about the existing brand strength Apple has a result of their
past efforts, but about the resources available with which to launch a
product, which can eclipse the development costs. I would buy a phone from
Obscuro Corp if the price was right and the physical quality felt good, I'm
willing to take a risk on a new market entrant if it won't cost too much. But
Obscuro Corp doesn't have the resources to tell me about their smartphone, get
equal display space in retailers etc, so it's easier to surf on an existing
brand instead.

I have a friend that used to sell handbags, both knockoffs and original
designs (usually from the same manufacturer). The quality of the knockoffs was
very very good, as was the quality of the originals, and of course the price
for the latter was much lower. But his customers almost exclusively wanted the
knockoffs - and although it went unspoken, they knew perfectly well that they
weren't _real_ Louis Vuitton or Coach handbags. People are generally not that
stupid as to think you can get a real Rolex or LV purse for $50 from some guy
on the street.

In cases like this, the desire to make a powerful social statement by carrying
something which is superficially indistinguishable from the expensive brand is
more important to the buyer than the actual value. Some buyers are victims of
deception, to be sure. But a great many would rather pay $200 for a low-
functioning fake iPhone than $150 for the exact same device minus the branding
(even if it's good value at that price).

So if you have the equipment, skills and capital to make a 'miPhone' but
nobody is interested because you're a nonentity, what other options do you
have? I'm not endorsing the practice, but I do think it's an inevitable
response to the power of the branding industry. This kind of thing happens in
nature all the time, look at the angler fish.

~~~
seldo
So your justification for illegally appropriating somebody else's brand is
that "we're broke and can't afford to build our own brand"? And the further
justification includes that deception is used in nature?

I'm not saying I don't understand why it happens, I'm saying it's not right to
do it, because it does damage to Apple's brand, contrary to the OP's point
that it was merely an "homage" with no harm done.

Sure, some people buy an iPhone lookalike knowing that it's a fake so they can
make some kind of stupid fashion statement. But I hope, dear god I hope, that
most people buying iPhones are doing so because they want a device that can
make phone calls, browse the web, sync with iTunes, and do all the other fun
stuff an iPhone can do. These devices don't do those things, not properly.

~~~
anigbrowl
I explicitly said that such copying is crooked and I don't endorse it. I wrote
to analyze, not advocate.

I would rethink your remark about 'a stupid fashion statement'. I am not into
fashion, but it has considerable utility. People make displays of wealth to
attract a desirable mate and also to increase their social status. In many
environments, dressing well and carrying the 'right' accessory conveys an
impression of success which may be key to getting a promotion or closing a
deal. Superficial it may be, but it works.

In this context, the features of the iPhone are no more than distracting toys.
All that matters is the display, which can be effected by having a secretary
or colleague call you in the middle of a meeting so you can pull out your
expensive _looking_ phone and say you're too important to talk right now. And
yes, people do things like that. It's the exact same reason there are so many
ads for teeth whiteners. They don't help you chew better, they help you look
better and therefore better off.

~~~
seldo
I recognize that what you're saying is true, and that there are people for
whom an iPhone-shaped shiny piece of plastic is as good as the real thing.

However, I hate those people :-) They're bad people. Stupid people.
Superficial people. I don't want them indulged.

