No matter who you are and where you are, you have probably seen or used a cell phone. Do you remember how much you paid for it? And who was the manufacturer? Nokia? Sony Ericsson? And mobile
phones have become an indispensable part of our lives. But hey, did you know that you can buy an N95 for just $75? Surprised? Yes, you can. Only that it is not Nokia who manufactured it.
If you have ever been to Asian countries like India, Singapore or Malaysia, you will notice that markets are flooded with Chinese goods! “They are really hardworking chaps”, my father often tell me. Also, I must admit that they make pretty good cheap replicas of almost every model Nokia phone! You buy a phone for $500 and they will give you the same phone with all the features just for $75! Nobody is going to believe that its a duplicate! And you get a slightly defective piece of this $75 phone for just $12, if you are ready to buy yourself another one 2 months later!
Recently, in my town, news spread about $12 N95. No need to say that all the teenagers in the place rushed to get one. By the time I got the news it was too late, the police had already arrested the dealer. The dealer bought defective phones from the Chinese guys at a wholesale price (In this case, he bought it for $2.5 per piece!) and sold it at $12. But still, who wants to throw away a phone with 2 external speakers, 3 mega pixel camera, MP3 player and dual batteries even if its a duplicate? And you get it all for $12! But things began to go wrong when people realized that these phones emits harmful radiations! That’s it, you put the Sim card and it starts radiating! You might even end up with cancer! But this was an exceptional case, $12 deals are really rare.
I have wondered how they do it. But a little research among my old pile of newspapers and techie magazines really gave some good results. These guys get cheap labor in China. They often violate worker’s fundamental rights and exploit them to the maximum. No breaks, no insurance, no extra payments,
no leaves e.t.c. They buy low quality parts, for sure. But they are able to sell it at such a low price because they are able to cut down their labor cost. Even though the camera is 3 megapixel, you won’t get even a 2x zoom!Also, they smuggle these things into the place. So no custom duties either. Don’t expect even a day’s warranty period for these phones. The only way to get such phones repaired is to approach local mechanics. Needless to say, they often stop working.
Take out the battery from your original Nokia Mobile phone and check where it is made; it’s written in the back. My father’s real Nokia 6300′s battery was made in China!But its working without any trouble. So the thing is, China is a source of both top quality and low quality electronic goods. Also there are many vendors who give away these phones to unaware customers at the rate of original phones! Non techies are often tricked into buying Chinese phones at high prices. So whenever you buy a mobile phone, ask the vendor for guarantee/warranty card.