JOIN USSometimes, to live up to unfulfilled dreams, and sometimes, under peer pressure, youngsters tend to use fake products. But how far can one go to just raise their ‘social quotient?’ Many these days are buying iPhones – not real ones but the pirated models – from grey markets like Ghaffar Market and Palika Bazaar.
When Metrolife spoke to some such students and professionals, we found their reasons equally amusing and compelling.
Pradeep Kumar, a young cinematographer, shared, “I work in an industry which is anyways full of glamour and show-off. Every other actor, director or their assistant I work with owns an iPhone. So, I had to buy an iPhone to maintain some status; and since a real iPhone is so very costly, I had to go for a fake version from Palika. Frankly, it works just fine.”
Milind Puri*, an advertising professional had an even more interesting explanation. “I bought this fake iPhone not with my own money but at the expense of the advertising agency I work with. Neither I, nor any of my colleagues were willing to spend a bomb on an iPhone. However, sporting an iPhone in client meetings was becoming necessary.”
“So we bought this pirated iPhone and keep it in a drawer. Whenever any of us has to meet a client, we take along this cellphone to flash. It gives the impression of both prosperity (of the agency) and creativity – exactly the effect that we want!”
Sunny Suri,* a Delhi University student owns a Nokia Lumia as well as a fake iPhone. “Many of my classmates own iPhones, though I suspect they are also pirated, so I also had to buy one. On the other hand, my dad had just financed my Nokia Lumia and I didn’t have the guts to ask him for an iPhone after that. Hence, this fake iPhone from Ghaffar.”
“Thankfully, it hardly gives away the fact that it is a fake except that it connects with all non-Apple products unlike the genuine iPhone. In fact, I feel, the pirated model therefore has an edge over the real one.”
Arvind Passey, a well-known technology blogger informed Metrolife, “iPhone certainly has a brand value. More than the device, it is the Apple logo which has a desire quotient. Therefore youngsters are drawn towards iPhone even if they are not comfortable using it or when it does not meet their cellular demand.”
“The fact that grey markets are providing pirated Chinese models only caters to that demand. I guess as better brands and mobiles will come up in the months to come, this craze over Apple iPhones will also go away.” The show-off tendency though, we suspect, is here to stay.
(*Names changed on request)