China Begins Cranking Out iPad Clones

By John Paczkowski

With the iPad, Apple hopes to create a new category of device, one that — in the words of CEO Steve Jobs — is “more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone.” And though the iPad is, as of yet, unproven at market, a number of Chinese electronics manufacturers are betting that it’s going to succeed in doing just that.

And they’re cloning the hell out of the device.
Among them, Teso which debuted two tablets at a Chinese trade show last week — an Intel Atom-based “iPhone-style” tablet that runs Windows 7 and another Arm-based device runs Android; Yinlips, which is planning an iPad look-a-like with a 6-inch E-Ink display; Micro-Star International (MSI), which will show off an Android-based tablet with a 10 inch screen at the Computex electronics show in June; Asus, which is prepping two iPad rivals for launch in the coming months — one for Android and another for Windows.

Asus, of course, is the company that earlier this month disparaged the iPad as “one big screen iPhone” and said it was something it could improve.

Finally, there is Shenzhen Huayi, which expects big things from its ridiculous-looking iPad knock-off.

“We basically made the designs to look like a jumbo iPhone,” president Xiong Yiwei told Korea IT Times.

“The profit margin of counterfeit cell phones reached up to 30 percent in the past, but only 10 yuan (US$1.50) profit margin is made per one product. We had a great expectation of netbooks last year, but only 100 yuan (US$15) profit margin was made. The success of iPhonish product is a matter of life or death for us.”
No wonder microprocessor outfit ARM is predicting we’ll see some 50 iPad clones by year’s end…