“A month before Apple Inc.’s smartwatch hits the market, China’s thriving copycat manufacturers are selling lookalikes, some openly advertised as Apple copies,” Joe McDonald reports for The Associated Press.
“‘Apple Smart Watch with Bluetooth Bracelet,’ says one vendor on Alibaba Group’s popular Taobao e-commerce website,” McDonald reports. “Photos on the vendor’s page appear to be the real Apple Watch. It says features on the Chinese version include text messaging and a music player. It starts at 288 yuan ($45), or one-eighth the $349 price of the cheapest Apple Watch.”
“Alibaba, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange last year after a record initial public offering, has faced criticism in the past for hosting the sale of counterfeit goods. It says it has been taking steps to reduce the problem,” McDonald reports. “At least eight vendors on Taobao advertised watches as ‘Apple Watch’ or ‘Apple Watch lookalike.’ Most said they were compatible with Apple’s iOS or Google Inc.’s rival Android operating system. One vendor jokingly used Chinese slang for a vulgar rich person, offering an ‘All-New Apple Tyrant Gold Mobile Phone-Supporting Watch’ for 288 yuan ($45).”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Indicator of success.
In the land of no respect for IP, it’s far better to be knocked off than ignored.
I’d like to see one of the tech sites buy these and do the usual review and present just how bad they are.
All but idiots know the CopyWatches are just Carnival toys.
That goes without saying. I’d just like to see them rip apart the copy to truly show other non-techy people how absolutely bad they are.
Because those cheap copies all run Android Wear, they’re not going to work with iPhones, so what’s the point. Do Android Wear watches even support downloadable apps? $45 is really cheap. It would probably cut into regular Android Wear smartwatch sales from Motorola and LG.
Ooh, maybe they’ll be ResearchKit compatible.. /s
I’m no longer worried about their military hardware.
LOL.
Exaspirational brands.
We cannot stop blatant pirating & outright theft of Intellectual Property in the USA. (Thank you, Google. Thank you, Samsung. And thank you once again, Judge Lucy Koh for letting it all happen with minimal consequences.)
So how in the world are we supposed to pressure other countries to do so? This is the real travesty of the failed, or at least severely crippled, Apple v Samsung IP lawsuits. They have shown the world that IP theft is essentially penalty-free. I don’t care how trivial the example is. The world needs a zero tolerance approach to IP theft, pirating, and counterfeiting.
Maybe when you enter the ‘fashion’ ring some rules are bound to change.. 😛
Maybe Apple should halt manufacturing in China to where IP is respected?
Yes, like in the US of A where we have Judge Koh and Denise Cote who protect Apple IP, right?
Bitter sweet it is. Take the compliment and a slap in the face.
I am shocked!