Blackmarket – Tongue Twister Typo

Sample their new EP, St Vincent Decor by clicking on the album cover

official

“Once winter comes, head for the hills, where white peaks etch the sky and forests lie muffled under snow as soft as goosedown. Where pinewood cabins nestle in the folds and the scent of woodsmoke lingers in your hair. Where you can hike the trails, ski the powder bowls or just relax in the flickering firelight with the friends you love best.”

Be warned, this post is a little longer than usual, but I puts loads of little pics up for you, so you may skip the text and still know more or less what’s going on…

It’s finally December, and Shelbs and me have been rushing around as if it was the 23rd already. I feel this time of the year is the busiest in both lifes, but also the coziest and most heart-warming – well, as far as I can say for us here in the northern hemisphere. I just love when it’s cold outside, a blue sky gives way for some tickling rays of sunlight and you can see your own breath.

Well, I know, it’s also all about damp socks, cold feet and running noses, because you’re still wearing your most comfy sneakers or ballerinas in the rain and snow. But hurry, get inside and warm by the fire, fetch yourself a hot chocolate and continue freezing in the virtual world.

Talking about socks and warming yourself; Shelbs has been a busy bee and made some woolen knee high socks for you in various colors, an absolute Must-have if you suffer from cold feet just like us – or simply want to match those new dresses with your shoes and need something to cover those bare calves.

So what else is new? Second of all we’d like to bring the BlackMarket’s Christmas Calendar to your attention, which we’re also taking part in. True, usually you get to open one door per day, but since it’s quite difficult to handle all those different time zones, and RL might keep us away from the screen for various reasons, you’ll be able to get some goodies for a whole week from certain designers. After that week, another group of participating designers will offer their items, and so on.

Here’s the poster, click it for a tp to the Black Market.

Something else we did not mention yet is the Gacha festival at Albero. So far we haven’t really heard anything about an official date yet, but you can hunt for our gacha items already in Albero and our Mainstore at Starlust. Here they are…

Then I’ve also put up two new items into our luckychair at our Mainstore. You’ll be able to win the handy longshirt in grey and the snugly neckwarmer in blue if your letter comes up.

Enjoy these pre-christmas goodies, there’s more to come!

<3 from Twosome

Hello! We’ll be down at the Blackmarket show this Friday. See you there!

New released item from *BOOM* available now at The Black Market and for only 25L!

 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Citrago/209/164/64

Stroll around and check out other exclusive and sale items from many of SLs hottest designers, posers, jewlers, shape makers, skin creators, hair creators, builders and pretty much any type of content creation!  Lastly, Don’t forget to check out the little boats for lots of freebies and dollarbies!

Some of the creators include but are not limited to:
Mudhoney, BOOM, Beetle Bones, SMP,  Miel, Waffle Hair, Fishy Strawberry, Etoile, Skream, MayoNaise, Modd.G, Ohmai!, Madsy, Twosome,This is a Fawn, &bean, Pig, Milk Motion, Snooky,Periquita,Sugarcube, My Ugly Dorothy, Doppleganger, Acid & Mala, Vive9, =hoot= & more.

Thanks!

<333 Ara

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Existence/181/38/22

Worn in photo:

Skin: :GP: Acorn [Dark] April-Bunny 1 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Curio/166/129/36

Hair: PR!TTY : Runway Model Hair :Brunette: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chranicle/68/82/1469

Top: *BOOM* Black Market cropped tank  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Citrago/209/164/64

Shorts: *CUPCAKES – Jean Shorts – White http://slurl.com/secondlife/Le%20Zoo/88/189/23

The following is my response to questions about iPhone in China posed by China’s Mobinode.tv …

I read Mobinode.tv regularly and I appreciate the opportunity to share my views about iPhone coming to China.

I believe we are at the beginning stages of a mobile revolution. A new breed of smartphones is opening up an ocean of information, entertainment and communication to wireless consumers. The iPhone is at the forefront of this revolution and I’m optimistic that Apple’s smartphone, and devices to be unveiled later, will soon “officially” be launched in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Let me go right to your questions.

1) Can you give a brief introduction of yourself, your experience in mobile telecom industry and iPhoneAsia.com?

I am the Managing Editor of iPhonAsia – a website covering iPhone with particular emphasis in China, Japan and Korea. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoy business and leisure travels to the Far East.

Over the years I’ve held senior management positions in the financial services industry and was responsible for development of numerous Web 2.0 applications. My current focus is technology and telecom in the Pacific Rim. I’ve written several dozen articles on iPhone and mobile telecom and have developed friendships with journalists, telecom analysts and app developers across Asia. You can read my complete bio on iPhonAsia.

(2) Regarding Chinese market, according to your last post, the coming 3G iPhone seems to be without wifi function? If it is true, what’s your view on this?

There have been several rumors about WiFi being disabled on a customized iPhone for China (model A1324) that is reportedly in production right now. This rumor is most likely true. The only way for Apple to meet China’s requirements would be to develop an iPhone that includes China’s proprietary WAPI (Wireless LAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure). China’s past policy has prohibited WiFi on handsets. However in May, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) changed the rules and approved a WiFi capable handset by Motorola. There was just one “catch.” This handset had to include WAPI. It seems that going forward, China will allow a WAPI/WiFi combination but not WiFi alone. The inclusion of WAPI adds extra expense to the manufacturing process and will require royalty payments. There may also be some user privacy concerns.

For China’s most tech-savvy power-consumers, WiFi will be important. As a result, I suspect smuggling of WiFi-enabled iPhones will continue to be a profitable enterprise. Apple will be a prime beneficiary as grey-marketers will continue to acquire full-price WiFi enabled iPhones in Hong Kong. In fact, on July 10, the iPhone 3GS went on sale in Hong Kong. The iPhone 3GS was also available SIM-unlocked via Apple’s online store in Hong Kong. The SIM-unlocked models sold out in a matter of hours! But not to worry, Apple (Foxconn/Hon Hai) will soon make more.

To keep things on the “up and up” (legal requirements) many of these SIM-unlocked iPhones have to make a two-way swim across the channel. They are manufactured by Foxconn in Shenzen, then shipped to a Hong Kong address and later smuggled back to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for sale on the grey-market.

The HK price for SIM unlocked iPhone 3GS:

• 16GB HKD 5,388 ($695 US)
• 32GB HKD 6,288 ($811 US)

While some consumers in China may prefer grey-market iPhones with WiFi, there are many millions that have never used WiFi on their phones and have only experienced 2G speeds. For this group, WiFi might be a less important feature. They may be more interested in iPhone’s enjoyable user-experience, entertainment value and status.

I am certain that Apple and China Unicom have carefully considered the implications of selling a non-WiFi iPhone in the PRC. I suspect the official iPhone will come pre-loaded with many special “for China” apps, such as Youku and Hanwang’s HWPen (although nothing has been confirmed re the localization of iPhone for China). The official iPhone will also be less costly as no jail-breaking or hacking will be necessary to activate the iPhone or to load popular apps via Apple’s China App Store.

What are the keys to make the official iPhone for China a success?

• Price – The non-WiFi iPhone must be priced below the grey market (WiFi-enabled) iPhones. It is possible that, as part of their negotiations with Apple, China Unicom has agreed to subsidize the retail price of iPhone. This subsidy will allow the “official” iPhone to be priced below grey-market iPhones.

• During launch promotions, China Unicom and Apple must emphasize the benefits of owning an official iPhone with a warranty. An official iPhone will not have the “bricking” concerns that accompany grey-market iPhones.

• China Unicom and Apple should promote how the iPhone is not a prisoner to fixed buttons and is designed to evolve. I have loaded software updates to my own iPhone several times and I have been amazed how my iPhone improves with age. Apple’s iPhone software updates often add new features/functions and speed. My iPhone is more valuable to me today than the day I purchased it (June 29, 2007).

(3) It has been said the App Store for China is under development. Can you share more details/opinions with us how the Apple store and iTunes would run in China?

Apple has now opened their App Store in many countries including Hong Kong and the PRC. Apple’s China App Store has been live for several months now. Many Chinese Netizens are unaware of the store as it is currently limited to iPod Touch owners only. I’m optimistic that Apple will be allowed to open their China App Store to iPhones. But this won’t happen until a deal is made official and China’s MIIT issues a network access license to iPhone.

I know that Apple has been working hard behind the scenes to further localize iTunes and their China App Store. I also believe that we will soon see many more apps, games and music for Chinese consumers.

There is some sensitivity around the inclusion of “games” on mobile devices (on Apple’s China App Store all games called “apps”). Right now the Nintendo DS is the only mobile gaming device that China has authorized. The iPod Touch and iPhone were not originally conceived as gaming platforms; yet, it’s hard not to notice how compelling the gaming experience can be on Apple’s mobile devices. I do not believe China’s MIIT will attempt to classify iPhone or iPods as gaming devices. The “genie is out of the bottle” (meaning that it is nearly impossible to go backward) and virtually every manufacturer’s handset could be classified as a gaming device. As a sidebar, I believe that Apple will launch an iTablet device (9.7 inch screen) within the next 12 months. This will be a powerful computer/e-book reader/gaming/music/entertainment/communications device.

As the saying goes – “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I believe the success of Apple’s iPhone platform is a key reason China’s carriers have moved aggressively to develop their own:

• App store,
• Android-based mobile operating systems designed to promote the carriers’ own wireless value-added services (WVAS),
• Customized Android-based handsets designed to promote the carriers’ WVAS

China Unicom clearly has plans for their own mobile music services and app store. There is a possibility that Apple would be required to make use of China Unicom’s platform to deliver apps and music downloads. I’m sure this was batted back and forth during several rounds of negotiations. Yet I remain optimistic that China’s iPhone owners will be authorized to use Apple’s iTunes/App Store and that Apple won’t have to take on the extra expenses of integrating China Unicom’s nascent platform into the China iPhone’s OS.

In the final analysis, Apple and China Unicom will need to strike a balance between competition and cooperation when it comes to their respective platforms.

(4) In your opinion, what kind of pricing system would be attractive to Chinese users?

I will have to defer to those more knowledgeable on handset/services pricing in China. One thing I do expect is a modest subsidy for iPhone that will reduce the cost to consumers. This is not unprecedented in China. China Mobile is presently subsidizing all TD-SCDMA handsets.

One clue to possible pricing in PRC is the iPhone prices/plans now posted in Hong Kong. You can do some comparison-shopping here:

• http://iphone.three.com.hk/website/en/iplan.html
• http://www.apple.com/hk/en/iphone/buy/ (English)
• http://www.apple.com/hk/iphone/buy/ (Mandarin)

There are several attractive plans via Hutchison “3” in Hong Kong. You can buy the 16GB iPhone 3GS for HKD 4,080 ($526 USD) with a monthly tariff of HKD 138 ($17.80 USD). There is also one plan where the 16GB iPhone 3GS is “free” if you pay a monthly tariff of HKD 398 ($51.35 USD) for two years.

One thing I would like to see from China Unicom is an unlimited data-plan for iPhone. Virtually all carrier plans in China now charge users by the amount of data they consume (e.g. time spent visiting websites, downloading, etc.) and I’m sure iPhone owners would be interested in an unlimited data-plan option. This would also be important if the iPhone does not include WiFi.

One sidebar item: On July 8, an MIIT Vice Minister pronounced that mobile plans in China are “too high” and need to be reduced. China Unicom publically acknowledged the MIIT’s point and they have pledged to reduce plan costs. Update: (July 17) 3G power users can breath a sigh of relief. China Unicom announced a new price cap on data. No matter what kind of 3G packages users have chosen, their monthly mobile phone Internet fees will be capped at CNY500

(5) From your observation, what’s the key opportunity/challenges for iPhone in Chinese market?

Key opportunities for Apple in China:

There are over 700 million wireless consumers in China. The majority are youthful, status conscious, and they want to own cool smartphones loaded with the latest apps/games and mobile technologies that allow them to interact with one another.

While incomes are lower in China compared to western markets, China still has tremendous consuming power. There are an estimated 340,000 millionaires in China and there is also a growing middle-class. An estimated 290 million Chinese households can be classified as middle-class with monthly incomes ranging from 5,000 CNY to 15,000 CNY ($732 to $2,196 USD). Chinese tend to save a relatively high share of their monthly take home pay. Rainy day savings can sometimes be spent on more expensive items, particularly if the product has status and is used every day … think iPhone.

All of this adds up to a tremendous potential market for Apple’s iPhone. Using conservative estimates*, I believe Apple can capture a full 2% share of the wireless market in China within the first 12 months of an official iPhone launch. That’s 14 million iPhones and perhaps another 2 million or so coming via grey-market iPhone sales.

There has been some speculation that Apple may introduce a new low-price iPhone model sometime in 2010. This model might be an unlocked “2G only” iPhone designed for prepaid markets, where the majority of wireless consumers prefer to “pay-as-you-go” (not on contract). A low-priced iPhone could double or triple my iPhone sales projections. If a low-price iPhone model is introduced in the first half of 2010, I would project that Apple can capture 4 to 6% of China’s handset market by the end of 2011. That’s 28 to 42 million iPhones.

*I should emphasize that there are many unknown variables at present that can affect iPhone sales prospects. We will know much more once the official “iPhone in China” details are revealed.

Key challenges for Apple in China:

First and foremost is Apple (iPhone) obtaining a network access license (NAL) from China’s MIIT. The NAL is currently gating a formal iPhone deal announcement and an official iPhone launch. If recent rumors are true, the NAL may be issued before the end of summer.

One challenge for both China Unicom and Apple will be to ensure that the WCDMA 3G network coverage is fully deployed. On May 17 China Unicom rolled out the first 55 cities on their new WCDMA 3G network. On June 30, China Unicom announced the secondary rollout to 44 additional cities. By year-end 2009 there should be 284 cities in China with WCDMA 3G coverage.

Building regional infrastructure (staff and facilities) and an iPhone sales network in China is an important task for Apple. Apple has store locations in Beijing at Sanlitun and soon at Qianmen Street, but the scarcity of Apple stores make this an impractical way to sell iPhones in the PRC.

iPhones will most likely be distributed through China Unicom’s vsnes.com division and may require partnerships with Wal-Mart and Best Buy (Five Star Appliance). There was also a media report that Foxconn’s Cybermart would sell iPhones in China, although both Apple and Foxconn denied this rumor

It will also be important for Apple to work with Chinese authorities to protect Apple’s intellectual property. Shanzhai ji counterfeit phones (“Shanzhai” culture is a rebellion against the monopoly sectors) are everywhere and many of these cheap knock-offs cross the boundary of imitation and into the realm of outright rip-off. While there are many Shanzhai ji iClones (iPhone look-alikes), no major manufacturer is immune to the bandit phones phenomena.

As a side point of interest, the Shanzhai (“bandit phones”) market in China has grown exponentially in the last few years. Virtually all brand name phones have a Shanzhai ji look-alike. Government authorities will admit that approximately 25% of all phones sold are Shanzhai ji knock-offs, but the real numbers may be closer to 50%. The Shanzhai ji economics are compelling. A bandit phone entrepreneur can drive his Ferrari over to Hong Kong and acquire chipsets and components from MediaTek and other suppliers and quickly set up an assembly line. These backroom operations often sprout up and disappear in a matter of months. It only takes a small team of engineers a few weeks time to prototype their next bandit phone. A Shanzhai entrepreneur might knock out a phone for about 300 CNY ($44 USD) and sell it for 600 CNY ($88 USD) with no pesky government taxes or licensing fees to cut into the fat profit margin. If the entrepreneur sells 23,000 units, he is now a millionaire. The bandit production operation will then shutdown only to appear again in another obscure warehouse. Rinse and repeat.

Of course you get what you pay for. I had an iPhonAsia reader write to me recently to complain about the “iPhone” she purchased while on holiday in Shanghai. It had poor audio quality, a screen pixilation problem, and after six weeks of use, it no longer worked. When I wrote her back inquiring about how/where she came to buy this phone, she confessed that it “really looked like an iPhone” but when she took it to the Apple store, the Genius instantly recognized she had purchased a counterfeit iClone. “Ah, that explains why it was so inexpensive.” Yep, there’s one born every minute.

Another matter for Apple’s legal team is the iPhone trademark. The iPhone name in China is partially owned Hanwang Corporation. I believe this naming rights issue will be resolved amicably. Apple and Hanwang have played nice together before. Apple bought the rights to Hanwang’s specialized iPhone character recognition app in 2008 and demoed the technology during the 2009 WWDC Keynote.

Another challenge for Apple is to get China’s telecom industry to understand that Apple’s platform is not a threat to carriers’ own services. If anything, iPhone has spurred a tremendous acceleration in carriers’ plans to build out their own eco-systems. You can read more on this topic on iPhonAsia.

In the end, I expect that iPhone’s official introduction in China will benefit both Apple and their carrier partner(s) in China. Perhaps the biggest beneficiary will be China’s wireless consumers.

(6) Regarding ecosystem for iPhone, can you talk about the difference you have observed between Asia and western market?

Apple’s iPhone platform or “ecosystem” consists of several important value-added services, including:

• iTunes (music, videos, podcasts, e-books & courses via iTunesU)
• App Store (apps and games)
• MobileMe (cloud storage and file sharing)

Chinese consumers often find pirated MP3 music and cracked apps/games on torrent sites. Consequently there are far fewer paid downloads in China than in western markets. Despite this problem, when content delivery is tightly controlled (e.g. ringtones) it can be very profitable for carriers and other value-added services providers.

Another major difference between China and the west is the method of paying for goods and services. Transactions in China are primarily “cash and carry.” The vast majority in China do not own a major bank credit card. Consequently, Apple may need to craft some creative ways (e.g. some type of prepaid iTunes plan) for consumers to pay for music and app downloads. If Apple can make it convenient for those without credit cards to pay for content, this might stop some of the download piracy.

Given the major youth demographic in Asia (majority of the population is under age 30), a large share of disposable income is spent on mobile phones when compared to western markets. One reason that phones are so popular in China and many markets in Asia, is the simple fact that many do not own desktop or laptop computers. Cyber cafes can be expensive and mobile handsets are often the only way to connect to the world. As a side note: Since computer ownership is rare in China, Apple and China Unicom may need to provide in-store kiosks or other means for iPhone owners (who don’t own a computer) to easily complete their own software updates or app downloads.

Young people love to chat on the phone, connect on the Net, play games, listen to music, and send instant messages. While IMs are popular in all global markets, Asian youth are in the lead when it comes to the sheer number of text messages they send. The average urban mobile user in China sends 4 text messages per day. During the Chinese New Year there were over 1 billion text messages sent in China!

Mobile gaming is also extremely popular throughout Asia. Social gaming in particular is a fast-growing segment. So too are social network sites where youth can interact. It is interesting how China’s one child policy may have affected the popularity of social gaming. Without siblings to play with, many children turn to mobile games to interact with peers.

(7) Is there big difference between Asian countries? We know iPhone in Japan is going very well, how about Korea and other areas?

3G networks are very mature in both Japan and South Korea. As a result, mobile TV, wave-to-pay (phone as a payment card) and other advanced 3G services are widely in use in both countries. There are also many advanced 3G handsets in Japan and Korea, but they seem to suffer from a fatal flaw. The user interface and software are not always intuitive, and many get lost attempting to use handset features. In contrast, the iPhone is highly intuitive. Most new iPhone owners never bother to consult the instruction manual. No need. It just works, and in such a logical and clever fashion.

iPhone received a modest but positive reception Japan. It has been estimated that iPhone 3G sold about 800,000 iPhones in Japan since the 2008 launch. The recent (June 26) iPhone 3GS launch in Japan was a major success. The launch day lines were long and many stores rapidly sold out of their initial supply. The enhanced camera and video capability on iPhone 3GS appear to be very popular with Japanese consumers.

Apple has not yet reached an iPhone accord in South Korea. The deal is still being negotiated, but there have been some encouraging developments. iPhone has now completed extensive radio research laboratory testing, and in May, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) formally approved the iPhone 3G. More recently (July 12) the KCC also approved the new iPhone 3GS. Both iPhone models include WiFi.

Korea Telecom has been the most aggressive in pursuing a deal with Apple, but SK Telecom may also be in the running. I suspect there will be a race between China and South Korea to see which country is the first to officially launch iPhone. The smart bet might be on South Korea. It’s going to be a close race!

(8) What are the most impressive achievements in your mind for iPhone in Asia? How would you foresee the trends of iPhone application in the coming years?

iPhone is too new in Asia to count off a list of impressive accomplishments. I guess you could count as “impressive” the approximate 1.3 million real albeit “jail-broken” iPhones now in use in China. The average selling price of these grey-market handsets has ranged from 3,075 to 6,150 CNY ($450 to $900 USD) and despite the grey-market mark-up, the demand has been quite strong.

It was also impressive to see the positive reception that iPhone 3GS has experienced in Japan and in Singapore. For a better appreciation of numbers in line for iPhone in Singapore, have a look at the video made on a new iPhone 3GS by Satya, who was 10th in line for the July 10 launch.

Regarding trends in applications? … Games and massively multi-player online games (MMOGs), such as World of Warcraft, are hot and I expect that new MMOGs will be introduced in China with versions for iPhone. The iPhone 3.0 software allows for “in app” purchases and new revenue opportunities (e.g. virtual goods) for gaming companies. Many who would not initially pay to download the game, are eventually drawn into the game and find that they are willing to buy virtual goods. For example, gamers can use virtual currency to buy a prettier dress for their dance character or a more intimidating weapon for their warrior. Many gamers in China have even traded virtual currencies and exchanged them for real goods. Last year, nearly $2 billion in virtual currency was traded in China. This has caught the attention of authorities and China is moving to regulate virtual currency.

I am also looking forward to mobile payments and wave-to-pay apps on iPhone. Wave-to-pay would be convenient for those who buy lattes at Starbucks or fast-food at KFC. Wave-to-pay on handsets might also replace public transportation IC cards for regular commuters. I expect that in the future it will be possible to swipe your iPhone across a scanner to pay for almost any item.

There is literally no end to the possible directions and numbers of games and applications that might be developed for iPhone, iPod Touch and future Apple devices. Just think about the astounding growth we’ve seen in just one year. The Apple App Store turned 1 year-old on July 10 and there are now over 100,000 registered developers who have created 65,000 iPhone apps. Most impressively, the App Store has now surpassed 1.5 billion downloads!

The future possibilities are as wide and deep as the Pacific Ocean.

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Two suitcases run through the x-ray machines at the Dalian, China Airport looked a bit suspicious to alert customs officials. The snugly packed bags contained eighty-two (82) new iPhone 3GS. The passenger belonging to the bags was detained by Chinese authorities. It was determined that the 82 iPhones in his possession were beyond the bounds of reasonable personal use, and no surprise, the passenger had not declared his bountiful Apple cargo to customs. Full story > HERE (in Mandarin)

 Introducing Shito, a new label focusing on footwear apparel, with target mainly female. Shito produces exclusively a limited design shoes that intersect between the art and the nature of the human body as an erotic obsession, This brief was to create a branding, catalog, look and feel, of shito. 

The iPhone: maker (and breaker) of new business in China

by Bo Wang, Bokan Technologies

BEIJING – May 21, 2009: With over 18 million iPhones sold in more than 80 countries worldwide, the iPhone has yet to be formally released in mainland China. Despite this, the iPhone is a highly sought after and prized commodity in the Middle Kingdom, with a million iPhones in circulation and thousands more introduced into the domestic market on a weekly basis. 

Apple’s tight control over international distribution channels and corresponding scarcity of the iPhone in markets where it has not been formally released has somewhat ironically been the main driving force behind its popularity in China. This scarcity, combined with the iPhone status symbol appeal in China has resulted in consumers being willing to spend a much larger proportion of their income on purchasing the iPhone. The iPhone has commanded up to 5000RMB, or $730US on the black market in Beijing. Taking GDP per capita into consideration, this would be the equivalent of paying $5700US for an iPhone in the United States.

Zhongguancun Plaza

In Zhongguancun, often referred to as the Silicon Valley of Beijing, the iPhone has spawned countless fledgling businesses and enterprises geared solely towards satisfying the insatiable demand of the urban populace for the iPhone. Local iPhone suppliers have had to be creative and fleet of foot in order to stay afloat with windows of opportunities for channels of supply usually being very short lived.

Since its release in mid 2007, the iPhone has been smuggled into China and Hong Kong through mail order from the United States using US residential addresses, or direct from New Zealand, where for a limited time iPhones were available in unlimited quantities (subject to availability).

HK shop selling iPhone 3G

As these channels have been exploited and supplies have run out or curtailed by Apple, businesses would often collapse only to rise from the ashes upon the discovery of fresh, untapped (and uncontrolled) sources.

Successfully sourcing and “importing” the iPhone into China is however only the first hurdle aspiring business owners hoping to jump on the iPhone bandwagon have had to surpass. iPhones sourced internationally more often than not need to be unlocked in order to be used on the local networks.

Chinese resourcefulness has really come into its own in this regard with specifically designed SIM card “jackets” that enable the iPhone to be used in China. Far from perfect, these one-stop solutions are often flawed causing the iPhone to freeze or stop functioning as it should. New releases of the iPhone with improved security controls have required further creativity and development on this front.

Apple is said to be in negotiations with  China Unicom and China Mobile for distribution deals, with a formal release date anticipated before the end of the year. China Unicom appears to be the leading contender as its WCDMA network would require minimal modification to the iPhone. With less than half the number of subscribers compared to China Mobile, it is unlikely that China Unicom will be able to successfully negotiate a sole distribution arrangement.

Li Yizhong - MIIT VM

Authorities have turned a blind eye to the local iPhone business to date, however it is likely that a formalized agreement between Apple and a large established Chinese company would have significant legal implications for local suppliers choosing to continue in this business.

Regardless of the details of the inevitable distribution deal, the iPhone will be a huge success for Apple in China. The booming black-market trade that has been built up around the iPhone will likely collapse as widespread availability would remove the scarcity factor, forcing local sellers to start looking for opportunities elsewhere. 末端

This  guest post was written by Bo Wang, CEO of Bokan Technologies. Bokan iPhone apps

Been meaning to write this for quite some time, it’s just i haven’t had the time. So this comes pretty belated since it’s been more than a week since Audi Fashion Festival 2009 kicked up a storm. It’s also incredibly long… but here goes anyway:

*

Way back when the Internet hadn’t taken over our lives, the role of fashion shows was straightforward: to present a collection to fashion buyers and fashion editors, hopefully, with enough success for clothes to fit magazine pages and fly off store racks.

Cut to the present. Do the same rules apply? Let’s be practical about things: fashion shows are exorbitant. For a show that usually doesn’t last more than twenty minutes, thousands are spent on staging, lighting, decor, models, venue rental, logistics – and oh, hey, let’s not forget the time, effort and material to put the collection together. All this is effectively six months of work into twenty minutes of show time. Bravo. But was that necessary?

These days, Youtube, blogs, Facebook – the Internet, basically – they’re all at our fingertips. They present ready and accessible  channels to broadcast fashion shows in a way that is far more cost-effective. Not to mention, space isn’t a constraint. There are no headaches thinking who to place in front row (or not), or if you’ve maxed out your capacity. 

Besides a few notable exceptions (Viktor & Rolf, Gareth Pugh, Alexander McQueen) why are fashion brands so slow on the uptake of cost-cutting technology? 

The answer, as Cathy Horyn of the NYT points out is that fashion shows don’t just serve  to showcase collections anymore. While that certainly remains an aim, it has come secondary to power, politics, and who you have in your front row. There is little question of this when we see celebrities replace editors or journalists in the front row. 

(I chose these two just for laughs)

Fashion shows, it seems, now serve to see and be seen – a phenomenon that tells us fashion isn’t all about clothes. 

So imagine my surprise when I discovered you could buy tickets to attend the Audi Fashion Festival shows. What a way to ditch the exclusivity that typically characterizes Fashion Festivals/Fashion Weeks.

Granted, it isn’t a new practice. Previous Singapore Fashion Festival (SFF) shows have charged for admission, running along the lines of $10 to see mass-market labels on the runway. Take Topshop’s shows at the Singapore Fashion Festivals of 2006 & 2007. $10 entry fees were a great way to reach out to their teenybopper demographic. Yet is this where we draw the line?

Apparently not. Whereas previous SFF shows were for the most part ‘Invite-Only’, Audi Fashion Festival 2009 offered admission to the Marc by Marc Jacobs show at $10, Ashley Isham, Vivienne Westwood and Gareth Pugh were going at 20 (although if you opted for cocktails, 60) & Monsieur Lacroix at 400/500. Everything was on the market! (save Dr. Georgia Lee’s private show where it rained men …and feathers. but that’s another story)

Was this an experiment in letting the Invisible Hand allocate fashion show seating arrangements?

Or was this a statement of Audi Fashion Festival’s purpose?

Tjin Lee, AFF ‘09 Director, offers:

We recognise that this is a challenging year, not only for fashion, but also for the economy in general, so our aim this year is to grab people’s attention and make them look at fashion again in a fresh and different way. We want to not only make them want to shop, but also get them excited again about the fantasy of dressing up.

(via The Sun)

Rejecting fashion’s hobnob culture for inclusiveness and accessibility deserves applause, especially coming from one like Tjin Lee. More than anything else, she understands the need to ignite the fashion fantasies of Singaporeans. After all, there is nothing quite like seeing the clothes in 3D, against the bodies of work that are models (as Pekface has pointed out), and seeing the clothes articulate a story, or better yet, a dream. What better way to share this magic, than to allow the public access to the shows — at such reasonable rates too!

All this may sound a little too altruistic for fashion’s sake… and to be fair, Audi Fashion Festival certainly had its share of celebrities and socialites clamoring for the cameras. We must also acknowledge that fashion is ultimately about hierarchy, the one-uppance of ideas, the trendsetter and his/her followers, etc.

What Audi Fashion Festival’s organizers understand is that in practical terms, Singapore’s (or Audi’s) Fashion Festival can’t and shouldn’t mimic the exclusivity of high-profile international Fashion Weeks (which Cathy Horyn laments about). 

Those international Fashion Weeks function as tradeshows: where fashion buyers make stocking decisions based on the fashion shows presented. SFF/AFF on the other hand, doesn’t exact the same pressure on the festival’s shows. A good example is this year’s Blueprint show (which on a sidenote, we thoroughly enjoyed! see: part i, ii, iii, iv & more) . All the labels already had a retailer (Blackmarket) well before their collections debuted. There was no challenge of winning over buyers.

Those international Fashion Weeks are also where designers vie to win the approval of fashion editors, journalists, and celebrities in their audience. In Singapore, there is but a glimmer of this. Towards our local/Asian designers, appreciation is mild. Criticism is mild too, which only goes to show how much we care for these labels. Something tells me if we cared a lot more, our criticism would be a lot harsher, and our appreciation would run a lot deeper. As it stands, there is no challenge in winning over unaffected journalists and an unaffected public. 

So Singapore has no business being exclusive about its fashion shows until we start challenging local designers to keep getting better. And by ‘we’, I mean buyers, the press, bloggers (yes, this is a call to rally together to shape local fashion, if we dare consider blogging the future of media), influentials (celebrities, socialites, trendsetters, etc) and the public. 

For now, keeping the shows accessible to the public is great way to engage them, and to prod them into thinking more critically about fashion. Over time, what should transpire is greater synergy in the local fashion scene: one that has the public (including buyers, the media & influentials) challenging designers, and designers challenging the public with their ideas… in a sort of conversation or cycle that feeds off its own energy.

In a self-defeating twist to the plot, making fashion accessible in Singapore can only breed a dynamism and energy that will make fashion show seats increasingly sought-after, and with that, increasingly scarce… thus planting the seeds for exclusivity, politics, hierarchy, and fashion shows to see and be seen.

Much has been said about the fear/paranoia that surrounded fashion at the end of the 20th century (Caroline Evans does quite a good job with Fashion at the Edge) and the distintegration of what our predecessors would have considered conventional modes of dress. A quick survey of the offerings on display at the Blueprint feat. Blackmarket show (so apparently, we really don’t run out of things to say about it) and, by extension, what local and regional up-and-coming designers have been coming up with suggests that we don’t seem to be done with this process.

Let’s give the process a name. Call it Pomo fashion (everything’s pomo these days anyway). Pomo fashion is not the New Look couture suit of the 1950s or punk fashion in the ’60s. These were all sartorial codes created with the aim of giving expression to a particular identity. Rather, Pomo fashion preoccupies itself with breaking down existing sartorial conventions to present a form of fashion that is at once devoid of cultural context and a symbol of a new culture. Reckless Ericka’s Union Jack dresses were less a political statement (something your parents or their unSingaporean compatriots elsewhere would have understood) than an exercise in sartorial dec0ntextualisation.

Long-winded wordplay aside, there is something very interesting about the local variant of Pomo fashion - what I’ve come to think of as the Haji Lane look - not least because you have to wonder how it came about. I suspect it is chiefly a result of Singaporeans not having a sartorial legacy to draw on. The French have their heritage of haute couture and men in smoking jackets with upturned collars, the Chinese have their Haipai styles and Mao suits and the Americans have a long history of sportswear and Americana. Our local designers simply don’t have anything to refer to that does not originate from without the cultural framework of our country. Not having a sartorial legacy means not having something to defend, to adhere to and in that sense, our local designers have been able to show some very interesting things unhidered by any sort of conventions. Pomo fashion comes into its own when designers persistently question the logic of existing norms such as why jackets button up differently for genders and come up with something truly unique.   

There is, of course, always a but. Not having a sartorial legacy also means not having something to subvert, to renew and, if the combination of shaggy fur coats with too-short dresses and slant-zippered pants are anything to go by, the end result can occasionally seem inconsistent. Increasingly, it feels as if we are trying to reach out for a new sartorial code that gives form to our identity and appropriating the sartorial codes of other cultures to define ourselves has reached its limits. It’s rather like an alien who matches a pre-Civil War hunting jacket with day-glo pants from the ’80s in trying to figure out how humans dressed. Koolhaas described Singaporean architecture as decontextualised modernity. The same might be applied to the Haji Lane look. (Aside: By calling it the Haji Lane look, do we then begin to give it context and legitimacy? Oh the irony.)

There is always the possibility that far from a thought-provoking issue for local designers to ponder on as they forge a new sartorial code that gives true expression to what we are (what’s Hokkien for chic?), P.B.’s just too uncool to fully comprehend the utter hipness of the Haji Lane look. Deebot and PFYG will have to do something about that.

Done.

Searching deep within the noise made by international names – between Westwood and Pugh – the Audi (formally known as Singapore) Fashion Festival thankfully showcased some of Singapore’s very own inspirational designers at the Blueprint featuring Blackmarket parade. One of the undisputed headliners of the parade was local girl Sabrina Goh with her self described “androgynous, structural and minimal” label Elohim.

Elohim was born out of Sabrina’s first ready-to-wear women’s collection designed in January of this year. Besides designing, Sabrina’s day can include drafting, sewing, merchandising, marketing or meeting with suppliers which means her busy schedule’s not really over until well into the pm.

Control Freak, the title of Sabrina’s newest collection explores the power shifts felt by a person who attempts to control and dictate their environment. The fabrics in the collection work in opposition, matte against shiny, colour against black. Side buckles are incorporated to transform silhouettes, tighten and release volume, join and separate designs. The designer gets her inspiration from a variety of sources; in particular structural objects, geometric shapes and Lego.

Elohim will face many challenges, but Sabrina believes that passion, ongoing resilience and a bit of luck will help her achieve her goals and maintain her labels success. With dreams to showcase Elohim on international platforms such as New York Fashion Week, Sabrina Goh is one designer to keep an eye on. The LaSalle College of the Arts graduate echoes SingStyle’s mantra proclaiming that “singapore’s creative scene is getting more exciting than ever before!”

Elohim can be found perusing the racks of Blackmarket and Hide & Seek or online at www.sabrinagoh.com

Will we ever stop talking about the Blueprint feat. Blackmarket show? Naaah. Not until we’ve run out of things to say.

Found better pictures over at Fash-E’s blog… and the commentary continues!

So here’s a better look at them hawt 3-slit pants (God, I dole out such unglamorous names):

Tried to find them silver platform sandals over at Nikicio because they had such a cute heel! Think v-shape bulb. Not to mention the sandals were a good balance between high and low,…which sent the !SCHOOL SHOE STAPLE! bell ringing. But alas, the online catalog didn’t have a high enough resolution, so I had to resort to using a picture that only makes it look like any other Marni-esque Charles & Keith sandal on the street. In their defense, they are not!!!! Right, like I have any pictures to prove it.

Okay, Wishlist Item Rant, over. We talked about the killer opening to the show, but nothing came close to The Bow.

Can’t remember which label this designer belongs to (somebody, save my memory!), but after all the designers took their bow, the models started nudging him to the front. At first he tried to resist their nudges, but he caved in the end, shuffled to the center and toasted to the crowd with a quarter-full bottle of 42 Below vodka. For that, we love him like he loves his vodka.

Photos: Mercury Marketing & Communications

Our invites

Blackmarket entered the fashion retail scene last November as one of the projects on Jasmine Tuan’s To-do List. Jasmine who?

photo: Blackmarket

How about 1/3 of local label FruFru & Tigerlily, 1/2 of VJ Achtung!Achtung! & Senior Media Designer at Zouk…among other things. To be fair, the professional multi-tasker shares her Blackmarket reign with a few other (equally cool!) kids.

But I digress. They entered the scene last November, and now, cut to about 6 months later, they’ve nabbed the deal for Blueprint 2009. Remarkable for such a young outfit, considering Blueprint has historically (ref: Singapore Fashion Festival history) been championed by DesignSingapore Council, the government agency that promotes design in Singapore (duh), organizes Singapore Design Festival and hands out the President’s Design Award…among other things.

We can’t say for sure how the reins of Blueprint entered Blackmarket’s hands, but what we can say is that we’re damn glad the reins have come under Blackmarket’s reign.

The show opened with fantastic visuals (no prizes for guessing the brains behind them, methinks) presenting the essence of Blackmarket. They read:

The contemporary condition is overwhelmed with the sense of loss, artistic expressions are beginning to reside only to the hearts of creative people. Static thinking of the masses towards these beautiful creatures is brewing due to misplacement of control. We became a commodity, a vending machine for the economy.

We are retaliating and rejecting all the ideals of commercial bombardment. A situation, where the focus becomes your own self, resembling a starving person of the depression era and you need to be someone by hook or crook. We don’t need a condolence on our dead thoughts, we can resurrect, let our rebel yell resonate again.

When the words finished screening, the audience cheered. A fitting way to start a show (and store!) founded on revolution for non-mass market/asian designers (although to clarify, Blackmarket doesn’t just retail Asian/local designs). With the crowd pumped, the show’s purpose was held firmly in perspective- always an important ingredient for a fab show!

The five labels presented were: Gian Romano, Stellarissa, Elohim, Reckless Ericka & Nikicio

We have 0 photos to show for because we all ran into camera crises, which = sad commentary Nonetheless, click on the links (above) to make the e-pilgrimage to their respective websites.

Blackmarket’s dedicated customer base was also out in full force (you can tell because 90ish % of the crowd fit the hipster profile), like a good Blackmarket Army….& when any store/label/designer (or in this case, designers) have an ardent niche crowd to show for, you know they’ve hit the spot.

该是时候和大家分享在拍综艺节目《当公主遇上王子》的照片了。我之前本来会和四位王子近距离的接触，通过逛街，聊天带大家走进他们的世界，不过因为公司在节目时段上有些更动，所以就只有两位王子。至于他们是谁呢，你们留意预告片就知道啦！我的第一位王子就是戴阳天。

我们到Sembawang的一间四层楼洋房示范单位拍摄。“剧中“饰演新婚夫妇。阳天说他喜欢小家碧玉型的女生，哈哈，我只好尽力而为。

道具食物好吃！

哈哈，忘了阳天当时在说什么，比手划角，挺滑稽的，尤其是我的表情，哈哈！

之后到外景拍摄，欢笑连连。。。

站了整天，乘他在换衣时歇一歇。

每次出外景到商店拍摄时，都会看到很多漂亮的饰物！我现在的致命伤是鞋子，所以还没有被这腰带“打动”。嘿嘿！

我在享受蜡烛散发的香味，并不知道原来阳天在我身边也摆了pose。哈哈！

闲着没事就开始扭动起来！

王子在镜头前有些含蓄。

吃甜品，真开心！说到吃啊，真的是好久没有运动了，不能再为自己找借口了！

Tomorrow’s Blackmarket!!!!

Nikicio is one of the labels who will be showing, and I’m pretty excited about the whole show in general.

But also for her. Was browsing through her lookbooks, and previous collections. I’m hoping to see more interesting yet tailored pieces (that won’t hurt my wallet too badly) tomorrow!

1. I am bummed that my workplace blocks ebuddy and meebo. And probably msn.

2. Good news- I can facebook. Bad news- my computer screen is huge. Also, I actually browse the net on a minimised screen cause I get intimidated by the big screen. It’s too big, especially after being used to a laptop.

3. Good news- my job scope involves me travelling out of the office. Bad news- I couldn’t leave the office today cause my boss was in a meeting all afternoon, and it would be rude of me to leave to go ahead scouting without informing her and without asking her for further details, no? *nervous*

4. Maybe tomorrow will be better. It better be, I realise I can’t asdlkjagh stand being in an office for so long. Cabin fever, or something. I’m not a leggy person, but even I have to stretch my legs. I hope for many out-of-office-things-to-do

5. Bad news- I’m like the erm (lemme think of a good analogy). Oh, I’m like. No wait, that’s not it. I’m like, my Jack Russell amongst a clan of cats, but sadder. That’s the best thing I thought of.

To cheer myself up, I must think of Blackmarket. Thursday. 11pm.

Blueprint 2009 featuring Blackmarket

Blackmarket celebrates creativity in all design manifestations.

We feel that the relevance of local designers should resonate not only domestically but also in the global market. In order for us to achieve the purpose is to make the designers leave a deep mark in the local market.

Featured designers include Elohim (Singapore), Nikicio (Singapore/Indonesia), Gian Romano (Singapore/Philippines), Stella Rissa (Indonesia) and Reckless Ericka (Singapore)

taken from http://audifashionfestival.com/participants/newgen_blueprint.html

@MJ @Stephan and @ all others looking to buy iPhones through this site… thanks for reading iPhonAsia, but we can’t help you with an iPhone purchase. iPhonAsia is a non-commercial site. Any ads you see here are placed by WordPress for WordPress … the price we way pay for having a “free” blog. 

Judging by the volume of direct e-mails and comments received, it’s quite evident that grey-market demand for iPhone remains strong. iPhonAsia has received regular inquiries from all over the world asking how to get iPhones. One guy wanted to know how to buy iPhones direct from Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision) or through other “factory backdoor” sources. Ha! I’m not such an ambitious or clever entrepreneur. Another greymarketeer was ready to buy (or so he claimed) ten-thousand iPhones for shipment to India, then to be exported to “non-authorized” resellers all over the world. These buyers are apparently reselling iPhones throughout Asia, Europe and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.

The number of “how to buy iPhones in volume” questions picked up after introduction of iPhone 2.0. This may have something to do with the new policy requiring “immediate activation to a carrier” at the point of purchase. This made it more expensive for the cadre of shill buyers employed by greymarketeers to obtain iPhones in large quantities, as they would have to pay a contract breakage fee.

If any readers would like to share more about the methods employed by greymarketeers to obtain iPhones, we’d be interested to know more about how they operate. You can add a comment to this post or, if you prefer, send us a direct e-mail. Your name and contact info will be kept confidential. 

For those that want to buy iPhones in volume “above board,” Apple or authorized carriers would be delighted to hear from you. Here are the official Apple contacts for iPhone sales -
Apple Enterprise Sales (877) 412-7753
http://www.apple.com/iphone/findastore/

Enjoy this free track from Blackmarket “Talk Too Much” – simply click HERE

Look what I found on the blackmarket. 4 bux for a a regular sheet and super sheet. I was suckered in by the infocommercial but didn’t want to shell out the 20 plus dollars that they were asking for. I thought I’d just pick it up at one of those As-Seen-On-Tv booths/store sections that linger through the malls but leave it to the city to have everything you need for less than half the usual price. I hope I didn’t support child labor somewhere or something. I’ll let ya’ll know what I think about it once I give it a good run.

Sham-Wow from http://neianeia.vox.com/

Bild: Henrik Vibskov vår- och sommarkollektion 2009.

Butiken Blackmarket i Stockholm har i dagarna fått in vår- och sommarkollektionen för 2009 från den danske designern Henrik Vibskov. Huvudbonader som liknar tefat ( liknande tefats-kepsar syntes även bland annat i den amerikanske designern Michael Kors senaste visning av vårkollektionen för 2009) och klänningar med grafiska mönster är några av plaggen i damkollektionen “The tent city”. Kläderna har en lite futuristisk rymdkänsla, och jag gissar att vi kommer att se mycket av grafiska mönster i vår. I morgon visar designern sin senaste kollektion “The human laundry service” för hösten och vintern 2009 under Köpenhamns modevecka. På inbjudan uppmanas visningsbesökarna att ta med en tvättbräda och en kazoo samt spela en låt för att komma in på visningen! Stilakuten ser fram emot att se hur designern tolkat och omvandlat “tvätt-temat” till höstplagg! Läs också Stilakutens tidigare inlägg om Henrik Vibskov:s halsdukar från i höstas här.

Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om Henrik Vibskov, Blackmarket

Today I was looking in the internet at the For Sale sites that advertise good buys for the average person, IE like craigslist and EBay do. I was looking for beds to replace these we have borrowed since we got back to our empty house.
Here in Mexico I have to say this is the first time something I saw and read totally dropped my jaw and Yelled to my husband, ALDO!!!!!!!! Looky! OMG a Kidney for sale?! My thought is this: Where did it come from and Who did it belong too and is it related to the person who posted this ad? Seriously?? Ok Now I believe the economy is in a crunch. Body parts on the internet.. Is this real!?

This ad says: Do you Need a kidney? Call me.

Der Tante Renate

05.03. Landau – Fatal
06.03. CH-Winterthur – Kraftfeld
07.03. CH-Basel – Hirscheneck
09.03. A-Innsbruck – Weekender
11.03. A-Wien – Arena
12.03. Pfarrkirchen – Bogaloo Club
13.03. Augsburg – Kantine
14.03. CH-Wil – Gare de Lion
18.03. Hannover – Mephisto
19.03. Berlin – Lokal
20.03. Leipzig – Conne Island
21.03. Wiesbaden – Alter Schlachthof
23.03. Köln – Underground
24.03. Marburg – Café Trauma
25.03. Dortmund – Suite023
26.03. Bremen – Tower
27.03. Rostock – Mau Club
28.03. Bielefeld – Kamp / + Supershirt

Blackmarket

28.02. Stuttgart, Schocken MotorFM Party
01.03. München, 59 to 1
02.03. Berlin, Magnet
04.03. Hamburg, Molotow
05.03. Köln, Luxor

Durchde

China’s blind eye to counterfeit goods

Via domain-b.com

January 27, 2009

China claimed a moral victory as it almost managed to wriggle out of World Trade Organization piracy ruling, bought against it by the US. Welcoming the verdict regarding its dispute on the severity of  “threshold” for criminal prosecution, China regretted the WTO’s decision to rule against the country two other cases involving copyright protection and auctioning of counterfeit goods.

The WTO panel of judges gave a fovurable judgment to the US in two of the three cases bought by the US in 2007, while deciding in China’s favour regarding changing its laws that lets off counterfeiters from criminal prosecution.

The mixed ruling brings the US close to obtaining billions of dollars as compensation from China on the money it lost through piracy every year although China and the US can still appeal the rulings that went aginst them.

The WTO ruled in favour of the US on patent and copyright protections after movie makers, music and software companies complained that they lost nearly $2 billion in 2006 as their products were being pirated by the Chinese and the government was turning a blind eye to these activities.

Lobby groups representing Microsoft, Walt Disney, and Vivendi said that the movie, music and software companies in the US lost more than $3 billion in sales in 2007. 
The US argued that China was clearly breaching WTO guidelines regarding protecting intellectual property rights because the thresholds in China for successful criminal prosecution of people who pirate copyrighted products is very high that the companies have no choice but to allow sales of these products in the market.

The WTO ruled that China, which allowed the reintroduction of seized counterfeit goods in the market by merely removing the label and trademark, must now destroy all counterfeit software and movies and give legal protection to foreign goods.

But the US lawyers failed to convince the panel of judges on the main sticking point on the thresholds for criminal prosecution of counterfeiters who counterfeit copyrighted goods in China, which has been the main agenda of the complaint during the past four years.

The WTO panel’s report said “the US has not established that the criminal thresholds are inconsistent with China’s obligations under the first sentence of Article 61 of the TRIPS Agreement.”

One commentator said that the Chinese laws on counterfeiting are so lax that if Beijing cannot solve the problem of pirating in its own domestic industries, how one can expect it to solve on foreign products.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement that it ”welcomed” the WTO ruling on the threshold for criminal prosecution, while it ”regretted” the decision to rule against the country on the issues relating to copyright protection and auctioning of counterfeit goods.

Analyst feel that for the US, this issue has become more important than the currency issue and has the potential of becoming a major irritant in the US-China relations, who is seeking protection of patents for its home company products like auto parts, handbags, which are copied by the millions and pharmaceuticals.

The Chinese ministry of commerce also said that the Chinese authorities always gave great importance to protecting intellectual property rights and in the past 30 years had made great changes in IPR laws, enforcement, education and international cooperation.

But if one takes a round to Shenzhen, in the Guangdong province, foreign visitors will be shocked to see fake copies of Apple’s iPhone and mobile phones having logos of Nokia spelt as ‘Nokla’ and ‘Suny’ products of Sony displayed in shops and

A counterfeit iPhone which was bought at a market in Shanghai, China. An unlocked iPhone is priced at 3,000 yuan (€277) in Shanghai, while a Chinese counterfeit model costs just 1,000 yuan. Photograph: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

sold for one-fifth the price of the original branded product.

The counterfeit products is known as ‘Shanshai’ originally referred to the mountain fortresses of bandits, who disregarded the numerous Chinese dynasties and nowadays a lot of Chinese view these counterfeit products as a symbol of anti-establishment and give their whole hearted support to these goods.

These counterfeit goods churned out by the millions in the factories of Guangdong province have similar functions as the original and is bought out one or two months after the release of these products in the West.

According to Yazhou Zhoukan, a Hong Kong magazine, more than 100 million shanzhai goods are produced annually in the Guangdong province and it is not that the Chinese authorities are not aware of these counterfeit products but has done little to stop it even though it loses money in value-added-tax