On this episode of China Uncensored,
why buy an iPhone
when you can buy a Big Cola...
phone?
Hi, welcome to the one and only
China Uncensored.
I’m your host, Chris Chappell.
I know a thing or two about knockoffs.
You know,
things that look like the original,
but maybe aren't exactly the same?
But pretty close.
It’s true though that
when it comes to knockoffs,
China is the undisputed king.
And it’s largely thanks to
loose intellectual property laws,
and well, people generally not caring about
the laws that are in place.
Plus a Chinese court system
that usually rules in favor
of homegrown Chinese companies.
Take the iPhone.
Um, no, not that iPhone.
That’s a Chinese leather goods maker
that beat Apple to the iPhone trademark in China.
I’m talking about the never-ending stream
of cellular hand held devices
that look suspiciously like Apple’s iPhone.
Here are my top 5.
Number 5
Oppo China style
This is the Oppo.
A quick glance at their website
makes it pretty clear
where they get their inspiration.
“But they slightly changed the shape
of the home button,” you say.
Yes, but these phones—
the F3 and F3 Plus—
otherwise look pretty much
exactly like iPhones.
They even follow Apple’s color options.
But after F3,
the numbering gets weird.
There’s the A77,
the R9s Plus,
the A39,
the N3, the N1 Mini,
and the awkwardly named, Find 7a.
“Hey Siri, find Find 7a.”
Number 4
Big Cola
People in China love the iPhone.
Just look at the lines
for the release of the iPhone
a few years ago.
The problem is,
most people in China are actually really poor.
78% of people there
make less than 10 dollars a day,
according to the Pew Research Center.
And considering the iPhone 7 and 7 plus
both go for around 1,000 US dollars in China,
you can see how there might be
a bit of a disconnect.
That’s where Big Cola,
or DaKeLe comes in.
It was specifically designed to be
a cheap iPhone knockoff—
less than half the price.
And you can also get a two-liter version free
if you order two large one-topping pizzas
from Pizza Hut.
Now that's a deal!
In fact, a few years ago,
the Big Cola was even hailed as
the best iPhone knockoff.
Yes, this was a whole industry in China.
But the company folded.
What happened?
Did people start buying the real thing?
No.
Other, larger Chinese companies
with dubious ties to the government
decided to get in on the fake iPhone game
and dominated the market.
And that brings us to...
Number 3
A super Nova
You see, what DaKeLe really was lacking
was big name celebrity endorsement
that only a mega telecommunications giant like Huawei
could reel in.
Sure, it’s an iPhone knockoff,
but it’s endorsed by Chinese heartthrob singer,
Zhang Yixing.
And it’s not just the nova.
The Huawei P10 is also basically
an iPhone clone.
Now sure,
having a Huawei device
may have its downsides.
The US government thinks that Huawei
has “undisclosed connections
with the Chinese government,”
and “Huawei equipment could surreptitiously harbor
software to facilitate cyberwarfare,
including espionage or network disruption.”
But don’t worry,
they were talking about Huawei’s telecommunications equipment,
not their phones, which I'm sure are fine.
Number 2
The iPhone?
Wait, is this an actual iPhone?
It says iPhone.
It has the Apple logo on it.
But as those of you read Chinese can see—
it’s not an iPhone.
It’s “the Best iPhone 7 Plus knockoff.”
You see,
this isn’t a brand.
Their motto is:
“We're the leader in high quality iPhone
and Samsung knockoffs.”
And they nailed it.
Right down to the iPhone 7’s
missing headphone jack, making this knockoff
just as terrible as the original.
I mean, no headphone jack?!
What were they thinking?!!!
And finally,
Number 1
Will the real smartphone
please stand up?
Okay, now this one barely looks like the iPhone.
And yet, the Baili 100C accused the iPhone
of stealing its design.
That’s right,
a Chinese smartphone maker so small,
it didn’t even have a website,
sued Apple in a Beijing court
for stealing that classic Baili 100C look.
Irony is dead.
And of course,
the Beijing Intellectual Property Office
ruled in favor of the Chinese company.
They said, “Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
have minor differences from Baili’s 100C.
The differences are so tiny
that the average customer
could not notice.”
The result? Apple was banned
from selling iPhones in Beijing.
Of course, Apple immediately appealed,
and there was no actual break in people
being able to buy the real iPhone.
Apple did eventually win.
It helped that Baili was a defunct company
by then anyway.
But if an out-of-business Chinese knockoff
can sue Apple for stealing its design and win,
at least for a little while...
actually I don’t know what that says.
How about you tell me what you think it means?
Leave your comments below.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again, I’m your host, Chris Chappell.
See you next time.