iPhone inches closer to China
Beware the clone horde
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It's official: China Unicom chairman Chang Xiaobing has disclosed that his company has indeed been negotiating with Apple to bring the iPhone to China.
We had reported rumors of such talks late last months - but now that chairman Chang has spoken, the talks have been elevated in newsworthiness.
However, according to a Reuters report, Chang didn't go so far as to announce a deal, softening his remarks by saying, "We are in talks with many handset suppliers, including Apple."
Rival China Mobile had also been in talks with Apple, but those negotiations apparently broke down over a year ago.
But even if the iPhone comes to China, don't expect it to be an instant success. Although Apple may be a hot brand in the West, it's no Coca-Cola or McDonald's in China.
Also, Chinese clonemakers have been busy copying it and offering their clone-phones at prices that may very well undercut anything Apple has to offer.
The list of iPhone knock-offs in China is staggering. Here's a sampling: the SciPhone i68, GiPhone F5, HiPhone, ePhone M8, DESAY M888, Cect P168, Meizu M8, and the ever-popular CECT-A380i.
Knowing China's fast-and-loose attitude toward software piracy, we don't expect that any Apple efforts to take these phone makers to Chinese court for hardware piracy would bear much fruit.
China Unicom may be poised to launch the iPhone, but it will be launching it into a sea of clones. ®
COMMENTS
@Grant -- Issues in US Economy
Grant said, "The Econmy is * up because American banks got stupid and greedy along with American consumers and now U.S. economy is the toilet."
Actually, the banks have been forced into making bad loans since the Federal Government passed the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977. The Community Reinvestment Act is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.
The way it works: Community Organizers (i.e. current seated American President Obama was one) could file a petition with the Federal Government to stop the opening of new banks unless the banks would meet some credit demand for the community, that they would not ordinarily approve.
In other words, the banks were legally blackmailed into meeting bad credit requirements for 30 years!
It seems like the people who ruined the system (i.e. Community Organizers) are in power (i.e. President Obama) and appointed the same people who enabled the corruption (i.e. the cronies of the Carter Administration in 1977.)
The solution that the people who got them into this mess... government borrowing, to save all the bad loans the government forced the banks to take on... and fund Community Organizer groups (i.e. ACORN) though direct government payments for awhile, since the banks are no longer able to be blackmailed, and push more money into the system so they can be blackmailed again in the future.
Clearly, the greedy people were the ones who started this government forced transfer of loans to people who could make the payments, not the banks who were blackmailed.
Anything for a vote.
RE:And people wonder why...
Thats right we need fair trade like massive subsidies for farm good in the developed world or maybe textile duties because it's not fair that developing countries have cheap labour. Or maybe a new opium war, that was good trade war on drugs the west won.
The Econmy is F*cked up because American banks got stupid and greedy along with American consumers and now U.S. economy is the toilet. The European econimy got draged alone but is not is bad because they were not a greedy.
U.S. screwed up quit whinning and take some damn responsiblity.
Do they care?
"Thus a full iphone clone is probably never going to happen."
It doesn't matter. Mainly 'cos Chinese people don't use the same apps etc. as the west. They have a ton of home-grown stuff they use instead. Hence this really is irrelivent.
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