The fake iPhone5 costs $31 and is up for sale on the e-commerce platform Taobao
REUTERS SHANGHAI
The latest version of Apple’s popular iPhone has already hit the fake Chinese market. The 'hiPhone 5' is selling for as little as 200 yuan ($31) on China’s top ecommerce platform Taobao owned by Alibaba Group. But one has to pay around 800 yuan for the “genuine” one, according to some shop clerks at a mobile phone market in Shanghai. “Look at this. It’s not the same as the 300-400 yuan ones,” Shanghai-based daily Metro Express quoted a clerk as saying, pointing to one originally priced at 850 yuan.
The 'hiPhone 5' is based on leaked images of the yetto-be-launched iPhone 5 and is thinner and with less rounded edges than the existing iPhone 4, according to the newspaper. However, it is extremely light, almost like a plastic toy, like most pirated mobile phones, it said.
Western governments have repeatedly criticised China for widespread violation of intellectual property rights, but pirated goods from branded watches, to bags and computer software are easily available. Last month, an American blogger set off a media storm after she posted pictures of an elaborate fake Apple Store in Kunming, selling genuine if unauthorized iPhones, Macbooks and other widely popular Apple products. Reuters also uncovered a look alike of the Swedish furniture giant Ikea in the southwestern Chinese city.
Apple, which is expected to roll out the latest version of the iPhone5 smartphone in a few months, sold a record 20.3 million iPhones in the last quarter, even though its latest model is over a year old.
Apple Blocks
Galaxy Tab Sales in EU SEOUL | SAN FRANCISCO Apple scored its most significant victory in its intellectual property battle against Samsung Electronics after a German court temporarily barred the Korean firm from selling its flagship Galaxy tablet in most of the European Union. The court order comes a week after Samsung was forced to delay the Australian launch of its latest Galaxy tablet because of a separate lawsuit alleging Samsung infringed on a number of Apple’s patents. Apple has said Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets “slavishly” copied the iPhone and iPad. It has sued in the United States, Australia and elsewhere. Samsung, whose tablets are based on Google’s Android software, has countersued Apple. Samsung is clashing with Apple in many places, which could result in a temporary fall in sales and increase costs related to litigation,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul. — Reuters
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: A posed picture shows a real iPhone alongside a fake model, in Beijing
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