Apple Watch fakes soon to appear in China–a killer app that shakes off fakes is awaited Japan Top News
On April 24th, the Apple Watch was released worldwide on the same day. The target countries include China, and for Chinese consumers, it also appealed that Apple values the Chinese market. China is known for its explosive purchases of luxury goods and the success of the gold model of the iPhone, but we have not seen any news about the Apple Watch Edition selling well.
What attracted attention in China was not the relatively inexpensive Apple Watch resold from Hong Kong or outside of China, but a non-brand fake called "Shanzhai". Fake Apple Watch was sold in the market before the original release date. The original price starts at 2,488 yuan (approximately 50,000 yen), but counterfeits are sold from 300 yuan (approximately 6,000 yen) on real markets in Shenzhen and Taobao. And multiple media reports that sales are not bad.
In China, when a new iPhone is announced, it tends to be thought that fakes will appear, but recently that trend has been completely quiet. Although there are one or two fake iPhone models, they rarely reach the market and fade out. But the Apple Watch is different. There are so many different Apple Watches on the market that it's hard to tell, some have a cheap feel to the real thing, some look quite different, some have tried their best to imitate, and some have SIM cards that can be used to make calls. be.
An Apple Watch imitation sold on Taobao. The price is 399 yuanAlthough it is not an Apple product, e-book readers similar to the Kindle came out in the past. The fake Apple Watch rush reminds me of the days when the new iPhones and Kindles were released.
When there were many fake iPhones in China, there was no need among Chinese consumers to say, "There are functions that can only be realized on the iPhone, and that's why I need to get an iPhone." . When the Chinese media introduces the iPhone, "iPhone can make calls, play music, add apps and add functions", "What are the CPU specs and how much memory capacity?" …”, and there were only occasional disassembly articles.
The game "Angry Birds" appeared there and became a big hit worldwide. AngryBirds created the first iPhone boom in China by tapping into non-face-to-face needs. At the time, Android phones (at least those sold in China) had smaller screens and insufficient CPU and memory to play with. That's why, after Angry Birds, the iPhone had to be real. On the contrary, when there was no killer app, there was still a need for a fake iPhone. There was an opening for a fake to enter.
As for the Apple Watch, the Chinese media only evaluated it in terms of texture, specs, and disassembly, just like the iPhone review article at the time. The flood of fake Apple Watches is probably the result of each manufacturer's anticipation that ``there is a need until Apple Watch is found to be a problem''.
Nowadays, it's not difficult for a manufacturer to release a smartwatch similar to the Apple Watch as long as they don't get hung up on texture. As far as I can remember, a wide variety of small non-brand feature phones have been sold in the Chinese mobile phone market since around 2012. Some are the size of smartwatches that can listen to music and view photos. Many manufacturers are entering this business opportunity with low technical hurdles.
As long as "what can only be done with an Apple Watch running Watch OS" or "what can only be done with an iPhone" is the motivation for purchasing, counterfeits will continue to appear. It wouldn't be strange to see an Apple Watch that combines existing technologies and customizes Android. Or, as was the case with e-book readers in China, the fakes that were initially released in large numbers against Kurofune may disappear as they are no longer a business opportunity due to the fade-out of the original.
