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| Counterfeit phones are especially popular among African youth, who cannot afford geniune smartphone models. (File photo/Hsu Shang-li) |
Chinese
counterfeit smartphone makers face challenges ahead in Africa as Kenya began
cutting off the internet connection of counterfeit smartphones in October to
reduce crime and other African nations also pledged to ban the phones.
Four Kenyan
telecom operators cut off their signals to 1.5 million counterfeit phones in
the country on Oct. 1, part of the Kenyan government's effort to protect
intellectual property rights, trade and mobile phone user safety. Uganda and
other African nations have said they will follow suit, which is expected to
affect Chinese counterfeit phones makers who have been major sources of the
phones on the continent.
The
Communication Commission of Kenya said the counterfeit phone has become a
criminal tool since they were smuggled into the country and untraceable. Their
signals are often unstable and they cannot guarantee the security of mobile
payment.
The Kenyan
government has extended the cut-off twice to allow users to switch to genuine
phones but has set Oct. 1 as its final deadline. Mobile brands such as Nokia
and Samsung provided discounts a for million Kenyans who replaced their
counterfeit phones for genuine ones, recycling and reusing the parts of these
counterfeit phones.
The four
operators now will ask users to verify their identities and check their phone's
IMEI number, an unique identification number on each phone. Counterfeit phones
do not have the number so that the operator can distinguish them from the
genuine model and block the signal.
Some of the
counterfeit phones were still able to receive signals by the afternoon on Oct.
2, according to Li Lianxing, the correspondent of China Daily in Africa. Locals
said they can understand that the policy will be good for the market but were
also concerns that many people, especially college students, cannot afford a
genuine phone amid the the economic downturn, according to Li.
Counterfeit
mobile phones contain risks but their cheap price makes them popular,
especially in developing economies, says Zeng Jianqhiu, Beijing University of
Posts and Telecommunications.
To stem
smuggling and tax evasion, many countries have taken action against counterfeit
mobile phones. India has limited phone sales while Libya also monitors sales in
the market.
Li Yi,
executive vice president of China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, said
Chinese phones makers also hope African and Latin nations can get rid of
counterfeit mobile phones to make room for Chinese mobile brands such as Huawei
and ZTE. He suggested the counterfeit phones makers to establish their own
brands in order to sustain their businesses in the future.
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