Chinese iPad clones hit the streets

a website dedicated to all thing shanzai (faked goods), recently went to Computex to see what kind of tablets were rolling out of Chinese factories, giving the iPad (which is technically not available in China yet) some competition. They clearly went to the right place. “Everybody and their dog is announcing, showing off or actually selling tablets,” says Shanzai.com. iPad magic on the streets of Tokyo probably delighted Steve Jobs, but here's some manufacturing magic Apple is likely to be much less happy about.

iPad clone no. 1: C7One particularly good tablet they found was one from Cynovo called the C7 tablet How the C7 stacks up against the iPad:

•Memory: 1-2 GB of memory vs. 1 GB
•OS: Windows vs. iPhone OS
•Webcam: 1.3 megapexels vs. none
•Mulitasking: Yes vs. none
Shanghai tech fans can also get excited that this tech start-up impressed enough people in Silicon Valley that they’ve gotten the funding to move their factory to Wuxi, much closer to Shanghai’s electronic’s markets.

Unfortunately the C7 and similar clones will be selling close to the iPad’s market price (woefully out of range of most Chinese tech consumers), but thankfully Shenzhaiben.com is reporting that Fengda Hardware Products Co. will soon be producing a new a new tablet chassis with a magnesium alloy shell making it much easier for local companies to produce clones for the local market (and offer local market prices). The shanzhai bonus: the screens will be 10 inches to Apple’s 9.7 inches.


“The general feeling is that these tablet products will of course continue to improve throughout 2010,” writes Shanzhai.com, “and it's not just the manufacturing curve that will steepen over time either. The maturity of the Android and iPhone OS platforms and the ability of Shanzhai players to manipulate and optimize the Google phone OS into a mature, smooth and vibrant tablet experience will also be a key area for improvement as the year progresses. Android 2.1 and above on these tablets should be with us in a few months. By that time we really should start seeing some seriously slick iPad clonage.”

iPad clone no. 2: the iPed
The iPhone has all sorts of similar-sounding knock offs, so it makes sense that the iPad would too. Enter the iPed.

See a video from Japanese News Network (JNN) below:

Youtube video


Made by Orphan Electronics, the device runs Android 1.5 instead of iPhone OS. The main thing that’s catching consumer’s attention though is the price. While top-of-the-line gadgets like the C7 are placing themselves in the same price range as the iPad, the iPed is on average US$150 which includes 1GB of RAM, a 600Mhz processor and WiFi connectivity. The iPed’s only downside? A seven inch screen.

Not too shabby for a poor man’s tablet in a country where the iPad isn’t technically on the market yet.

These are far from the only iPad clones to hit the markets, but two that had definitely caught the Chinese iPad-lacking, tech-hungry consumer’s eye in Shanghai. We’ll keep our eyes out for the next round of clones the local electronics markets are offering. With the real iPad still some way off, we’re sure to see more shanzhai ones around soon.