• Taiwan Bans Sale of Chinese Phones

    Taiwan Bans Sale of Chinese Phones

    Techtree News Staff, Jul 14, 2009 1259 hrs IST

    Will this iron-fisted approach do the needful?

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If you have been a regular reader of Techtree, you might have been through our coverage of the Chinese IMEI-less phone ban, the multiple flip flops by the Indian government and the final outcome (hopefully) wherein the import of such IMEI less phones was banned by the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade.


How effective this ban will be is anybody's guess. Additionally, this does not take away the fact that there are millions of IMEI less handsets still functional and working. This ban does not seem to address the problems created by such handsets available openly. There were efforts to legalize these handsets by assigning them IMEI numbers sometimes; while during other times, operators were asked to bar such handsets from accessing their networks. Neither has happened. That anyway is another story.


What caught our attention recently was the news coming in from Taiwan regarding the ban of IMEI less handsets (Chinese, again) there. The country's National Communications Commission has imposed a ban on the sale of such phones and has even implemented a fine on those who will be caught selling or buying these handsets. The ban itself is interesting -- in the sense that it does allow users to buy such phones, but not from Taiwan. For example, you can buy a Chinese phone in China and bring it to Taiwan and use it. However, you cannot bring more than five such handsets. If you order these handsets online, you can buy only two of them at a time. In Taiwan, however, you are not allowed to sell or buy such phones at all. This ban has made the buying process of these phones difficult and unattractive. The fine, which comes to around 300,000 Taiwanese dollars ($8,800), seems to be a credible deterrent for those who trade in the sale or even buy such devices. Even in Taiwan's case, while we are not sure how strictly this will be implemented, we are quite certain it will be implemented for sure.


In India, these phones have no doubt become a hot favorite, thanks to the high on features, low on price strategy adopted by the sellers. These phones offer what branded phones offer for twice or thrice their price. While everyone of us is all for technology for cheap, it sure doesn't mean we buy cheap quality and in some cases, dangerous products that can not only cause security issues, but also be unsafe for personal use. Many of these unbranded handsets come with little or no QC (Quality Control) and do not conform to safety, radiation standards (eg. SAR) set by the regulatory authorities. In view of issues like these, should India too take an iron-fisted approach like the Taiwanese have done and weed out these handsets from the market?

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Related Links
No IMEI Number? Your Mobile May Go Kaput Soon
Chinese Mobiles: The Flip-flop Continues
Chinese Handsets Without IMEI Number Get Barred
Tag keywords
Taiwan Chinese phones IMEI Directorate-General of Foreign Trade National Communications Commission mobile phone ban



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