Counterfeiters Going One Better?

I've written a number of times in the past about product counterfeiting, and one of the big concerns is that the knock-offs can be dangerous, and have been proven so on occasions. But I've heard from experts who say that the products are getting better. Now we see an example where maybe the counterfeiters and knock-off experts are taking a few steps ahead of the original product. According to Popular Science, a Chinese company, Meizu, has effectively knocked off the iPhone, calling its product the miniOne.

A few days before Apple's launch, an online video surfaced depicting a sleek new product called the P168 [watch the video below]. The phone came in a black box, marked with both the iPhone and the Apple logos. The video showed the phone being unpacked and operated (the start-up screen also featured the Apple branding). There were features that the iPhone didn't have, such as the ability to operate on two different networks at once; six speakers; and, addressing a major prerelease complaint about the iPhone, a removable battery. I asked my translator if she could find one on the street. They weren't available in Beijing—yet—but a few weeks later, a friend discovered one in Guangzhou. The manufacturer of the P168 wouldn't comment for this story, but the hardware was real, and it worked.

Given the many public complaints about the iPhone, perhaps it's time for US companies to start copying the copiers.