Keepin' it real fake, part CCIII: New York Times undercover edition
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 28th 2009 4:54PM
posted April 28th 2009 4:54PM
When the New York Times sent one of its ace reporters to Shenzhen to check out the KIRF scene, they came to a startling conclusion: these things are really quite popular. And why not? Your iPhone might be a terrific device, but is it really $400 better than the Hi-Phone, or the iorgane? Well, it's probably $400 better than the iorgane -- we'll give you that one. The article sites a general lack of concern from the Chinese government, new technology such as Mediatek's turnkey circuit board solution, and a significant drop in the price of parts as reasons that knock-off phones are so prominent in that part of the world. There is also a bit of cultural pride at work, too: "shanzhai" technology, as it's known, is seen as a way to thumb your nose at the big players in the industry and throw some work to your local bandit. That said, we do have to cry foul at the way the paper lumps our beloved Meizu M8 in with the usual assortment of knock-offs: the thing sports nary an Apple (or "organe") on its handsome exterior. Check out the price breakdown on a typical $40 KIRF after the break.
[Thanks, Ben]
[Thanks, Ben]
Pretty colors too!
I would never buy a KIRF anything.
This has nothing to do with iPhone... this is about buying FAKE SHIT.
My cousin used to sell Chinese MP4 players on ebay when they were the big thing and many of them had GUI's and OS's that were so poor that they just stopped working - or crashed when you tried to turn them off.
with a company like Blackberry, Apple, Motorola...etc, I know that if my phone suddenly stops working, I can go to someone and get it fixed or replaced.
NOBODY and I MEAN NOBODY is going to Shen Zhen China to replace a HiPhone, IorGane or any of the other crap they sell.
PLUS, that stuff is filled with LEAD.
oh I see how it is Engadget. Change the picture that once had a bright pink iPhone knockoff so now I look like an idiot. I'm onto your game...
why the fuck do you Americans think all Chinese products are filled with lead?
After that incident occurred, it was later discovered that it was the American company that designed it with lead based paint. The Chinese manufacturer just followed the American company's directions.
from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/business/worldbusiness/21cnd-toys.html?_r=1
"Mr. Debrowski clarified that many of the units recalled this summer were magnetic toys that, though produced in China, were recalled because of a design mistake by Mattel."
its safe to assume things are filled with lead. sellers of fakes have basically no accountability at all. who the hell are you going to sue? they couldn't give a rats ass if it breaks a month into use or if it contains dodgy materials. u paid cheap you get what u pay for.
its not like lead filled paint is cheaper... There is no incentive to use it. Only when the designer orders it, will lead-filled paints be used. Like I said, Mattel made a design mistake which caused the lead paint to be used; it was not because it was cheaper nor was it because the Chinese manufacturers were unaware of the rules. They would not get paid if they did not follow the clients' orders, and would get sued instead.
Yea, my boss's (chinese) son (can't speak chinese) is over there all the time for business (co-founder of chumby), he wrote on his blog how easy it is to get the parts for cell phones. There are entire markets devoted to people that want to build a custom cell phone.
Sounds pretty awesome, surprised we don't see more android phones because of this.
That my friend should be the future of cellphone, being able to customize them. How many of us, have not been able to find that does what we need and want. Most of the time it is missing something.
I want one with a microwave and teaser.
If Meizu didn't want to get lumped in with other KIRFs, they should have changed their design. No pity here.
What are you talking about? Next to the iorgane, the Meizu M8 is positively civil.
Has anyone ever got these things to function properly? My girlfriend bought the Hiphone a few months back, it looked nice, but that's about where the appeal ended.
Can we install iPhone OSX in any of these phones? If not, I'm not interested. I'll stick with my iPhone 3G, the best smartphone ever.
It's always good to try new stuff... Like Android!
While you're deKIRFing the M8, how about giving the same due respect to the OPhone already?
or NOKLA
don't forget sumsang!
I'm still waiting for a new SornyErickson
I'd be a poor Simpson's fan if I didn't also add Magnetbox and Panaphonic to this list.
It might be a good question to ask why the legit stuff costs sooo much.
Because companies are entitled to make a profit on their products as long as it's done legally.
Because they have to pay both the R&D department and the designers, as well as the marketing department. How much of that do you think there is with a KIRF?
Also missing from the KIRF costs: licensing fees.
Those patent trolls do a lot to impact the price of "legit" devices.
...because people are willing to pay so much?
It's not fake if it goes by another name:
http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press_archive?month=04&year=2009&base_name=unauthorized_copies_are_not_co
"The article sites a general lack of concern from the Chinese government"
That should be "cites".
Funny how they take offense at calling the M8 KIRF when engadget has repeatedly called it exactly that.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/27/meizu-m8-unboxing-and-hands-on/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/04/meizu-m8-gets-english-language-video-review/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/23/meizu-m8-prepped-for-full-scale-launch-ip-battle-with-apple/
to name a few
Once a KIRF, always a KIRF. We wouldn't have the M8 if it didn't have an existing design to copy.
WTF is an Organe? is that like an Organ? With an e? Cause the last time I checked that orange colored fruit was called an ORANGE!!!! lol maybe it was Lost in Translation.
Organe is a knock off of Orange, it's all about staying true to the product.
There's a Orange company in Europe related to cell phones as well... so it's a double knock-off!
iOrgane is anagram for rogaine which is needed for hairless fruit to grow hair.
You know, that may be the price Apple pays to produce each iPhone unit... if not less money.... Yes, that is how companies generate capital. Capital leads to research funding. Research funding leads to new technology and better products. Better products lead to Profit. And Profit leads to the dark side.
Just ask Darth Vader and his vPhone: low power consumption lightsaber, asthma inhaler, blacktooth, 1080 MP camera (too be able to zoom into other galaxies), FREE Imperial March ringtone, and multi-THOUGHT sensitive screen.
Do any Engadget readers actually own any of these KIRF iPhones?
no... because i cant pay importing fees. or i would.
From the article:
“Our phone is even better than the iPhone,” says Liu Zeyu, a Meizu salesman in Shenzhen. “Our goal is to create a phone that makes Chinese proud.”
As a Chinese person reading this article, I can tell you that I am not proud at all. True, that its not easy designing a touch screen phone that doesn't resemble an iphone based on shape and size..but since the OS of the M8 is Windows they could at least show some creativity and design an interface which makes it easier to use the phone instead of simply copying the interface used in Apple's iphone.
One thing I wonder is, if you buy a KIRF product don't you ever feel ashamed/embarressed whenever people see it and mistake it for the genuine item?
no, because then you are a successful troll.
successful troll is successful.
yeah, i'm chinese and i'm not exactly proud of it either, seeing as it's illegal this is the same thing as selling $20 'Folex' watches on shady street corners.
now, i AM impressed that they can produce an iPhone knockoff that has all the functionality (if the claims in the original article are true) but at 1/4 of the price. if they can throw together the same kind of tech and I don't have to pay an apple tax, i wouldn't mind picking one up. (well, except that it's blatant theft of IP. maybe if these guys came up with some alternative designs that aren't a direct rip off of a preexisting product, this would be great, and something that i'd be proud of...)
I am also Chinese, and I am very proud of Meizu. They are able to make a product that is very nice and is comparable to an Apple iPhone. Even though they are vastly different in many areas, they have been successful in making a high quality phone. They might have taken design cues from Apple, but what company doesn't take design cues from other successful products?
I'm holding out for a PearPod! I think that'd be really cool.
I bet the folks that wrote the show don't even know that PearPC was one of the OSX emulators... in the happy days when we wished Apple would support Intel chips.
"shanzhai" is pretty much the Chinese nickname of "KIRF".
Thank you, Jackie Chan.
Any idea on the SAR levels of these knock off phones? just a thought.
(Monster cable sucks)
1.21 gigawatts? 1.21 gigawatts? Great Scott!
I think it's time Engadget did some real research into Kirfs.
You hinted at it in your last podcast. You don't really know where they come from, how they come into be, the market they are made for, and so forth.
Get someone from Engadget China (is there such a thing?) to do a bit of research and interviewing and do a proper article on Chinese Phones.
It could be something genuinely interesting and and eye opening.
And I like "Shanzhai". Now you know the real name for these things...
(And these Monster cables... will mentioning them get my comment posted?)
yeah, there's an engadget china - check the 'asia' thing under the toolbar. But you're asking engadget to actually do real journalism here... that's crazy talk
I know this is highly unlikely since sprint is CDMA and all but do any of these people make any sprint compatible phones?
I don't want to be forced into a 99 dollar a month everything plan to get the instinct or palm pre.
wow. they spelled orange wrong..
iorgane? lol
The term "Shanzhai" is far more interesting than what NYTimes has translated it to be. "Black market" in Asia simply implies products that have been smuggled into China and thereby circumvent import duties (and also obviate warranties).
Shanzhai literally means Mountain Village/Camp. Historically it connoted outlaw regions hidden in the mountains, beyond the reaches of government control (and tax officials). Of course, these cell phones aren't actually made in any sort of rebel encampments, but considering that most a huge amount of cell phones are produced in Guangdong province (which is very mountainous, with large factories tucked among hills), and anyone can run a full build-and-sale operation out of their home or shop with just a bag of components, it's not hard to see where the term came from.
Agree with jacket above. For me at least, "shanzhai" also connotes a kind of DIY spirit borne out of aspiration, ingenuity and, by extension, income...like the brothers in Hebei province who build F1 cars out of scrap. In effect, it's like thumbing your nose at the established players and saying "I may never be able to afford the real thing, but that won't stop me".
I think shanzhai has been debased to a degree by using it as an all-inclusive definition for cloning a well-known product or brand.