power MTK chips
Smartphones are some of the hottest hi-tech gadgets in the mobile communications market, accounting for 25% of US mobile phone sales, according to market experts such as Nielsen and Gartner. Predictions of upcoming market trends will show smartphones gaining a larger piece of the mobile phone pie with over 2.5 billion sales expected between 2010 and 2015.
In addition, other expert forecasts also suggest that smartphones will become the primary means for people to access the Internet and may eventually surpass personal computer sales by 2012. These gadgets, like Apple's iPhone, sell for between $99 and $299, depending on the memory capacity. while their Android counterparts carry price tags between $149 and $199.
But these high-profile smartphone brands aren't the only ones grabbing bigger market shares, as Chinese shanzhai phones are popping up with incredibly low prices compared to their branded counterparts. With the emergence of better components such as the latest MTK chips that go to the heart and soul of these shanzhai phones, a new revolution in the world of technology is about to happen.
China Shanzhai Phones Overview
The term "shanzhai" in Chinese has two literal meanings. One is that it may refer to the fortifications that bandits and warlords have in the mountains and are outside of official control. Another is that it can also refer to similar, inferior, improved goods or things done in parody.
In the technology world, shanzhai refers to imitation, knockoff or cloned versions of electronic devices such as mobile phones. The small companies in China that make these shanzhai phones blatantly copy the designs of brand name manufacturers like Apple and Nokia. They would then create knockoffs of these tech products and sell them really cheap to online retailers, wearing weird variations on names like Nokla N97, Hi-Phone or Motololah.
Powered by MTK chips
Early versions of Shanzhai phones are not smartphones and use chips from MediaTek or MTK. This has allowed Shanzhai manufacturers to sell their products at really cheap prices that cannot be matched by any mobile phone manufacturer in the market. MediaTek is a shell semiconductor company that makes the electronic components and chips that go into cell phones and wireless devices, like the MTK6516 that powers most of Shanzhai's non-smartphones.
However, when smartphones took the market by storm, MTK was slow to come up with chips that would power the Shanzhai smartphone. MTK made a comeback with the launch of its Android-powered chipset that sent Chinese manufacturers their own versions of the smartphone, but with price tags more or less in the $100 range. These smartphones and related mobile device products with MTK chips pave the way for affordable high-tech gadgets that will be available to consumers who cannot afford high-end versions.
Smartphones have revolutionized the way mobile computing is moving, offering users various features and functions never seen before on standard mobile phones. The appearance of new and better MTK chips that are compatible with the Android operating system is set for a new revolution in the world of technology - smartphones will become affordable and accessible to everyone.