14 DAY TRIAL // The news about a Chinese guy arrested for smuggling iPhone 6 parts broke yesterday. But that doesn't seem to deter other so-called entrepreneurs from selling their own parts. You can actually make your own iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, if you really want to.
The parts industry is booming in Asia, and end users can benefit from that by getting a new phone even before Apple releases it. We just got an email from a company that sells iPhone parts.
Sketchy emails
This looks pretty shady at first sight: the sender has an east-European name and his email is written in bad English and Comic Sans. Some of the parts are supposedly original, but they can surely help you buy an iPhone 6 clone for much less.
The iPhone 6 screen for the 4.7-inch model is $299 (€230.68) and you have to pay $399 (€307.83) for the iPhone 6 Plus display. They sell a dock connector for $10.9 (€8.41) for the smaller iPhone, but you have to pay almost double for the big one. As everyone knows, Apple calls that lightning port and it has exactly the same size for all devices. We wonder where the price difference comes from.
Parts like Wi-Fi flex cable, home button assembly set, loud speaker, side button set (this is probably the power/wake button), and SIM tray have the same prices for both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
But the offer does not stop here. The company has a so-called "iPhone 6 otter box." This is supposedly the brand new OtterBox case for iPhone 6. And the best offer is presented last. For just $159.9 (€123), you can get a brand new iPhone 6 clone.
Their email ends with some contact information and the company's website. You can even pay via PayPal or Visa, if you trust them. They do have a Skype ID and a phone number from China just in case you need some more info.
Would you give them your credit card?
Companies like this one have flooded eBay in the past few years. As long as the parts are not stolen from Foxconn and other big Apple manufacturers, there's no way for the Cupertino-based tech giant to go after them.
On the other hand, most of the companies that sell parts are working from a PO Box in mainland China and there's no way to track them.
As a customer, buying stuff from them is risky. You may end up with nothing or your credit card information could be stolen. There's no way to verify if the parts are genuine or properly tested by Apple.
