“Chinese consumers unable to wait – or afford the Apple Watch – can now order a cheaper knockoff,” Michael Hatamoto reports for DailyTech. “Authentic Apple Watch smartwatches will retail in price from about $350 up to $17,000, but a fake knockoff can be purchased for as little as $30.”
“Chinese consumers can purchase the “AW08″ smartwatch from Alibaba’s Taobao website with next-day delivery anywhere in China. The watch currently costs $59, can connect to Google Android devices, and promises up to 120 hours of total battery life,” Hatamoto reports. “Other knockoff watches include the D-Watch, Airwatch A8, and Ai Watch – all affordable smartwatches designed to look just like the Apple Watch.”
Hatamoto reports, “Some products are openly being promoted as the Apple Watch, while others are available with an ‘Apple Watch lookalike’ marketing tag.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hint: Apple Watch is going to sell like hotcakes!
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Chinese copiers roll out wave of Apple Watch knockoffs – March 12, 2015
I thought Alibaba had a recent IPO. If so, can’t Apple file a lawsuit against Alibaba for allowing the fakes on their site?
Was just thinking the same thing. They’re list on the NYSE: BABA
It’s buying a plate of chicken and not minding if it’s really cat, because the price is so good.
Hungry again real soon, though.
I agree when this is available its going to sell out. I can sense they haven’t planned for whats going to happen
Oh they have planned as they always do. They have a very good feel for what the demand will be and available units will be nowhere near that. Headlines will read, “Apple Watch Sells Out On First Day!”
I am being somewhat sarcastic. I think they make enough to find out what the real interest is going to be, and also that first production run will uncover any serious problems,
Can’t even stop it in the USA. (Thank you, Judge Lucy Koh!) How are we supposed to stop it in China?
i’m buying one to make sur i get the right size
These are “knock offs” in appearance only. There is no chance the copiers can mimic the functionality, or even come close. That’s why they won’t even try. It’s mostly a “shell” with basic watch functions, like “fake” clear eyeglasses (that don’t do anything) for people who want to look smarter.
Apple is not losing much; anyone who wants an Apple Watch for what it DOES will buy a real Apple Watch. Anyone who only wants to pretend to have an Apple Watch does not have an iPhone either, and they are not potential Apple Watch customers.
Interestingly enough, though, sales of fake Apple Watches — which are already hitting the streets — bode extremely well for AAPL stock. International Business Times argues that mass-counterfeiting is a reflection of high local demand:
But just like the iPhone 6, the proliferation of Apple Watch fakes is a good omen for Apple. Rather than hurting sales, counterfeiting is one of the most reliable indicators of Chinese demand for a product. Apple’s iPhone 6 was a prime example of that: Sales of fake devices gave way to blockbuster sales of real ones.”
China clearly loves AAPL products. It also loves gold, and with the highest-dollar products in the Apple Watch line — the Apple Watch Edition — lined with 18-karat gold and retailing for between $10,000 and $17,000, don’t be surprised if AAPL makes a fortune on the Watch in China.
While China alone could help stoke another rally in AAPL stock, it isn’t the only overseas market investors should keep their eyes on. With pent-up demand in China and the willingness to tweak product prices at will, AAPL stock looks like a strong buy ahead of the Apple Watch launch on April 24.
Free advertising for Apple. No one counterfeits a 3 dollar bill. Anyone who has money and brains buys the real thing. Even if it is partially functional and made by Slamdung in Korea, it cannot access the rest of the Apple ecosystem and will never take Apple share of the market. Again, free advertising.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/apple-watch-gilders-set-to-scoop-up-apple-s-profits
Get your REAL AppleWatch gold plated for $2k……….umkayyyy…….
…Because communism kills the incentive to invent and innovate.