An interesting article from Bloomberg on the booming business of iPhone clones in Asia.

“With a touch-screen and Apple’s logo on the back, the “iClones” look just like the real thing, but Apple does not plan to offer iPhones in Asia until 2008.

The owner of the shop in Sanchung, near Taipei, said he began selling “aifungs” in December, six months before the iPhone went on sale in the United States.

… The knockoff iPhones are produced in batches of 1,000 at a factory in Shenzhen, China, Ben, 26 said. He advertises his phones on the Internet and sells them for 8,900 New Taiwan dollars, or $270. Last Wednesday, Jobs cut the price of the top iPhone to $399, a $200 reduction.

“The guts aren’t hard,” Ben said. “The hard part is the design and the exterior.”

He said his operation has sold more than 10,000 clones in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States.

… Apple is not the only victim. Neil Mawston, an analyst for Strategy Analytics in London, said that fakes come with labels like “Nokian”, imitating the brand of Nokia, the world’s biggest cellphone maker, and “Snog Ericsson”, a corruption of the Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications’ trademark.

“By some accounts, they may make up 5 percent to 10 percent of total volumes this year,” Mawston said.

Image from Ubergizmo