Chinese Junks Phones Flood African Markets

On 09.15.09, In General, by Dr. Charm

I lost my Blackberry the moment I arrived in Tanzania a while ago and when when I went shopping for a phone, I wanted something simple yet a phone that I could get to achieve a few basics like blog, facebook, email, IM and a few things. So I hit downtown Dar es Salaam and [...]

Sleek Looking Chinese Phones designed to just cheat the mind of the buyer

I lost my Blackberry the moment I arrived in Tanzania a while ago and when when I went shopping for a phone, I wanted something simple yet a phone that I could get to achieve a few basics like blog, facebook, email, IM and a few things. So I hit downtown Dar es Salaam and went phone shopping.

I thought that we had quite a bunch of Chinese phones in Kenya but that was just like a third of the number in Dar. I wanted a Nokia in the ranges of 5310 and I knew just like every little gadget I have, I would over use it to get what I wanted. Unfortunately, it was too expensive in Dar. I came across an iPhone on the shop counter and I looked closer only to realize it was a Chinese fake. I actually went ahead and bought it.

It had TV instead of U-Tube, GPRS instead of 3G, quite some fake browser and only Java application support made it quite closer to getting me anywhere. Even the Gmail app could not work. I spent about $160 for it, not too bad for the look, it was an exact copy of the iPhone, physically.

Question is how good is this Chinese mobile for Africa? It may be cheap but how long does it last? Within 2 months, my iPhone was useless. A waste. This is what happens to the thousands of the cheap quality mobile phones distributed to Africa from the Chinese market. The Chinese have found a way of putting a media player, a GSM radio, an FM receiver and a Bluetooth platform on really cheap material and have it flooded to Africa for near future waste. They make money off it as they dispose their trash to us. I feel so bad knowing what this does to our environment. The thing is that our governments are not looking at these effects and they are just allowing cheap imports without regulating the quality.

What is the work of bodies like Kenya Bureau of Standards or CCK for that matter? Where is the civil society in environment? This is a challenge to anyone who can put a word forward, lets think of the effects of cheap stuff before we buy them. I challenge mobile phone service providers to put up campaigns to support proper quality of phones and help save our people from these fake things.

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