My first reaction was that someone's made an iphone look-alike, probably running android, which the press has picked up and called iphone fakes however further reading showed:
"Police said the Shanghai gang scavenged parts from discarded iPhones and combined them with counterfeit components to create the fakes."
So, fake iphones do exist however I wouldn't call them truely fake
So possibly two criminal charges here:
- using counterfeit components and what are we talking about here - third party casings, batteries, parts that lots of places like dealextreme sell openly? Most likely fake packaging though
- misrepresenting an item as new when its reconditioned/remanufactured
Makes you wonder how they manage to get so many broken iphones
They are awesome at copying. You can buy $5000 gold clubs for $500 and an expert will tell you they are great. I recall they stripped and copied a motorbike years ago. Oddly, the name of it was real close to the original and they got done. Wife is Chinese (and honest!) but they all advise not to buy anything electronic there unless you are there and know the gear. While there is a perception (and fact) that chinese general stuff is cheap and nasty, you can get quality products there too. And cheap. But you really need to be there. We got drapes made, very fancy, very nice, thick materal, great workmanship, and cheap.
A mate bought an iphone 4 from a guy on Trademe, all up front. he got it and it was in fact genuine. Or so he thought until it was turned on it had the typical chinese UI that you see on chinese MP3/4 players. Colourful, silly fonts, etc. Got money back, but on the outside it was un-noticeable
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