Crackdown on Shenzhen Shanzhai Pirates

Following last week’s highly publicized conviction and imprisonment of four people for selling pirated copies of Windows XP through the Tomato Garden website, it appears that Chinese authorities have launched a crackdown on shanzhai hardware pirates in Shenzhen. According to industry sources, Central Government authorities have been carrying out inspections of the electronics markets in the city’s Huaqiangbei district in search of makers and sellers of counterfeit shanzhai phones. Read on.

Welcome to the shanzhai party India players

Shanzai.com would like to officially welcome: Intex, i-Mate , Lava, Karbonn, Fly, Ray, Maxx, Micromax and Byond to the shanzhai party. They are the latest brands from India to take on the big guys with new phones based on ARM platforms from Chinese phone manufacturers. Retail chain The MobileStore claims they’re selling 5% of the market now and expected to move to 15%~20% soon.Apparently the rural market opportunity is growing like gangbusters and only the traditionally Chinese shanzhai brands have been selling there illegally due to their being “non-IMEI”. These new legal India brands have stepped in to fill the gap where the established phone brands are not yet pushing. Read on.