Hello, shanzhai. Hello, Nckia

Last Sunday, I bumped into some of my friends from Côte d'Ivoire on the street, and they told me they were going to buy a cellphone. They told me they love Chinese cellphones, and many even bought them for their friends back home. I could not believe it. In the States, we would look askance at Chinese phones and wonder if they might explode in our hands. So I went along for the adventure and see if I could be of any help in the bargaining area.

I was surprised when we arrived in front of this little shop selling Sumsung, Samsang, Nckia, and other knock-off phones. My friend wanted to be able to watch TV, go online, use blue-tooth, use a touch screen, and insert two SIM cards into the phone. He got all of that for 560 rmb (talked down from a opening price of 800). I was pretty impressed that a cellphone had an antenna to receive local tv stations. The phone he got actually spelled Nokia right on the front, and only on one side of the box that it came with did it slip with a Nckia. It was a pretty darn good fake. I'll try to get a snapshot of the phone from my friend in a few days.

Little did I know, today, I read an article here in the NY Times precisely about the topic of "shanzhai" phones. Having seen and experienced them first hand, I have to say they are kinda cool. The tv option is really appealing, and so is the dual SIM card capability, not to mention the sweet price for all the features. However, I do fear the lack of safety checks governing these fakes, and it's rarely compatible with the U.S. cellular networks anyway.