Chinese phone for under €100: the same device at two prices
A dual-SIM phone with GPS and 5 MP camera sells for €77 imported from China and for €199.90 under a European brand: the markup is around €120
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A dual-SIM with GPS for under €100: the same phone that costs €200
In late August 2013, an Android with dual SIM, GPS, a 4-inch screen and a 5-megapixel camera for under €100 sounded like fantasy in any Spanish shop window and was a catalogue option in the Chinese market. The brands —Jiayu, Zopo, Cubot, Lenovo, Amoi— meant almost nothing to anyone. The prices did: the Jiayu G2 with 512 MB of RAM was advertised for €77, the version with 1 GB of RAM and an 8 MP camera rose to €97, and the white Lenovo A800 appeared for €82.
The question that framed everything was another: why the same device costs double depending on who signs it. The case that was repeated ad nauseam was the BQ Aquaris 5, at €199.90, versus the Malata i8, at $99.99 — about €77. Same chassis, identical innards, two labels. "According to some, it's the same phone," summed up the starting premise.
Why the same phone costs €77 or €199.90
The simple math was done by anyone who bothered to add it up: €77 for the device, plus 21% VAT on entering Europe, gives 93. From €199.90 to 93 there are more than a hundred euros with no accounting explanation. The official version speaks of technical service, a two-year warranty, distribution and brand. The sceptical version, the one that circulated most, suggested that the importer only had to go to the manufacturer, commit to a pre-sale of 10,000 units and keep the margin. A calculation that circulated compared a branded device at €175 with the same one bought directly from China for €110 or €125.
No one disputed that the product is identical. What was disputed was the packaging: manual in Chinese and English from the factory, or the same device already "prepared for the Spanish user". That is where some placed the €100 difference, and not precisely in hardware improvements.
How much goes to customs and how much to the brand?
VAT does not explain the markup, but it is not the only cost either. At the start of the conversation there hovered the suspicion that at customs you have to pay 70% of the value, a figure that was thrown out as a question and that no one managed to confirm with a document. What did become clear is that the customs calculation is a lottery depending on how the package is declared.
Against that, buying in Europe has an advantage that cannot be discounted: warranty, invoice and someone to complain to. There were those who recalled group purchases of devices that turned out bad, with the organiser vanishing and two years of theoretical warranty that were worth nothing. The argument carries weight: the €100 saving can turn into a brick with no return.
The real purchase: two devices, €153 and a week in transit
The best data on the matter did not come from any catalogue, but from a completed purchase. Two units of the same model for €153, including €25 for DHL: about €75 per device. Shipping took a week and did not go through customs. The route was recorded: Saturday in Hong Kong, Sunday in Germany, Monday in Seville. Whoever ordered it wrote it down: it's a matter of luck and knowing how to choose the transport.
The practical detail that was most appreciated was the format. The device turned out to be exactly the same dimensions as the Huawei Y300, so the case for that model fits without looking for anything exotic. One of those details that do not appear in the spec sheet and save you half an afternoon.
The weak point is not the price: it's the 512 MB of RAM
Memory is the silent cut across the entire range. The warning was repeated several times: with 512 MB you go nowhere if you really use the phone. Whoever bought it confirmed later: RAM and battery "very tight" if you work a lot with the phone, sufficient for messaging and mobile-version websites. The version with 1 GB of RAM and 8 MP cost €20 more and was the one almost everyone recommended.
On power, the discussion drifted to the future: the eight cores that were beginning to be announced would cost €400 or €500 and the trinc year would be bought for €200, without that year giving anything useful in a device. Buying excess muscle makes sense in a desktop computer; in a phone that is changed every two years, much less so.
Prices that change in a day and a GPS that takes time to wake up
The shops did not help. The same device went from €75 to €91 in a day and, a few days later, appeared with a minimum order of 30 units. Buying in a market without a shop window or a reference showcase has these things: the price depends on the seller's mood and the time you look.
GPS was the other chapter. The accuracy of 30 or 40 metres is considered poor in good conditions; the usual is below 10. The solution that circulated was to activate A-GPS and fine-tune the receiver settings, which in some models comes from the factory designed for another hemisphere.
European brands and the mirage of the national label
While some defended importing, others sought a European alibi. The Romanian Allview, from €99, were presented as community-made, although the chips still came from Asia. And the usual warning remained: HTC is Taiwanese, not Chinese, and BQ does not manufacture, it imports. In parallel, clones of an iPhone that had not yet gone on sale appeared, without 3G, only voice and wifi. The factory does not distinguish: on one table one thing is assembled and on the next, the opposite.
With these numbers, buying abroad should be massive and it is not. The difference between €75 and €199.90 is on the table, but no one has managed to close the exact account of where the remaining €125 goes. And as long as that account does not add up, there will continue to be those who pay for the label and those who prefer to risk the package arriving on a Monday.
In late August 2013, an Android with dual SIM, GPS, a 4-inch screen and a 5-megapixel camera for under €100 sounded like fantasy in any Spanish shop window and was a catalogue option in the Chinese market. The brands —Jiayu, Zopo, Cubot, Lenovo, Amoi— meant almost nothing to anyone. The prices did: the Jiayu G2 with 512 MB of RAM was advertised for €77, the version with 1 GB of RAM and an 8 MP camera rose to €97, and the white Lenovo A800 appeared for €82.
The question that framed everything was another: why the same device costs double depending on who signs it. The case that was repeated ad nauseam was the BQ Aquaris 5, at €199.90, versus the Malata i8, at $99.99 — about €77. Same chassis, identical innards, two labels. "According to some, it's the same phone," summed up the starting premise.
Why the same phone costs €77 or €199.90
The simple math was done by anyone who bothered to add it up: €77 for the device, plus 21% VAT on entering Europe, gives 93. From €199.90 to 93 there are more than a hundred euros with no accounting explanation. The official version speaks of technical service, a two-year warranty, distribution and brand. The sceptical version, the one that circulated most, suggested that the importer only had to go to the manufacturer, commit to a pre-sale of 10,000 units and keep the margin. A calculation that circulated compared a branded device at €175 with the same one bought directly from China for €110 or €125.
No one disputed that the product is identical. What was disputed was the packaging: manual in Chinese and English from the factory, or the same device already "prepared for the Spanish user". That is where some placed the €100 difference, and not precisely in hardware improvements.
How much goes to customs and how much to the brand?
VAT does not explain the markup, but it is not the only cost either. At the start of the conversation there hovered the suspicion that at customs you have to pay 70% of the value, a figure that was thrown out as a question and that no one managed to confirm with a document. What did become clear is that the customs calculation is a lottery depending on how the package is declared.
Against that, buying in Europe has an advantage that cannot be discounted: warranty, invoice and someone to complain to. There were those who recalled group purchases of devices that turned out bad, with the organiser vanishing and two years of theoretical warranty that were worth nothing. The argument carries weight: the €100 saving can turn into a brick with no return.
The real purchase: two devices, €153 and a week in transit
The best data on the matter did not come from any catalogue, but from a completed purchase. Two units of the same model for €153, including €25 for DHL: about €75 per device. Shipping took a week and did not go through customs. The route was recorded: Saturday in Hong Kong, Sunday in Germany, Monday in Seville. Whoever ordered it wrote it down: it's a matter of luck and knowing how to choose the transport.
The practical detail that was most appreciated was the format. The device turned out to be exactly the same dimensions as the Huawei Y300, so the case for that model fits without looking for anything exotic. One of those details that do not appear in the spec sheet and save you half an afternoon.
The weak point is not the price: it's the 512 MB of RAM
Memory is the silent cut across the entire range. The warning was repeated several times: with 512 MB you go nowhere if you really use the phone. Whoever bought it confirmed later: RAM and battery "very tight" if you work a lot with the phone, sufficient for messaging and mobile-version websites. The version with 1 GB of RAM and 8 MP cost €20 more and was the one almost everyone recommended.
On power, the discussion drifted to the future: the eight cores that were beginning to be announced would cost €400 or €500 and the trinc year would be bought for €200, without that year giving anything useful in a device. Buying excess muscle makes sense in a desktop computer; in a phone that is changed every two years, much less so.
Prices that change in a day and a GPS that takes time to wake up
The shops did not help. The same device went from €75 to €91 in a day and, a few days later, appeared with a minimum order of 30 units. Buying in a market without a shop window or a reference showcase has these things: the price depends on the seller's mood and the time you look.
GPS was the other chapter. The accuracy of 30 or 40 metres is considered poor in good conditions; the usual is below 10. The solution that circulated was to activate A-GPS and fine-tune the receiver settings, which in some models comes from the factory designed for another hemisphere.
European brands and the mirage of the national label
While some defended importing, others sought a European alibi. The Romanian Allview, from €99, were presented as community-made, although the chips still came from Asia. And the usual warning remained: HTC is Taiwanese, not Chinese, and BQ does not manufacture, it imports. In parallel, clones of an iPhone that had not yet gone on sale appeared, without 3G, only voice and wifi. The factory does not distinguish: on one table one thing is assembled and on the next, the opposite.
With these numbers, buying abroad should be massive and it is not. The difference between €75 and €199.90 is on the table, but no one has managed to close the exact account of where the remaining €125 goes. And as long as that account does not add up, there will continue to be those who pay for the label and those who prefer to risk the package arriving on a Monday.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (104 replies).
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