Cherry Mobile Philippines just announced their latest Windows Mobile powered dual-SIM smartphone they called Eclipse 2. The most intriguing part is that the design and specifications are very identical to an earlier smartphone — a Gigabyte GSmart S1205.
Here’s the poster of Cherry Mobile Eclipse 2 posted on their Facebook Page.
Here’s a photo of the Gigabyte GSmart S1205 and the specifications.
Gigabyte GSmart S1205
3.2″ display resistive touchscreen
Dual-SIM dual standby quad-band
MediaTek MT6516 416MHz CPU
128MB RAM, 256MB ROM
3MP camera w/ VGA@30fps video
WiFi 802.11 b/g
FM radio with RDS
Bluetooth 2.1
GPS
Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
The next question would be “who came out with this unit first?” Well, GSMArena already had a full review of the Gigabyte GSmart S1205 as early as June 17, 2010.
What happened most likely is that Gigabyte and Cherry Mobile used the same equipment manufacturer from Shenzhen China. Normally, the brands would sign an agreement with their suppliers to lock a design specification to their brand so that no other brand would be able to use it (and thus avoid the embarrassment of having clones out in the market).
In this case, Gigabyte obviously got the design contract first. It’s still unsure if Cherry Mobile knew about this when they picked the design too. This kind of incidents also happens with laptops and netbooks too.
By the way, the Cherry Mobile Eclipse 2 is priced at Php9,990.
@ roan carl
you’re correct, man. 100,000 unit’s of Cherry P1 priced at P999. A calculator-designed phone whick breaks easily.
To Anonymous… dude or whoever you are (too scared to get named).. you’ve got some serious reading/comprehension problems..
I was referring to companies having their products either assembled or made in CHINA.. not copying the design.. dumba**
I Work for Dell.. so I know my stuff.. we do have partnerships with Compal and Quanta.. both from Taiwan.. and other ODMs in Europe.. the one in Poland..
Unless you are a market research analyst and “Knows” your stuff.. you can just shut it..
i dont get it. they copy the whole design and priced a tenth of it. then u say its common to Dell and HP? thats BS marami siguro dumb dito to believe that and im not one of them. yes China feeds crap and poor pinoys eat whatever theyre fed on. kahit poison pa yan kakagatin pa rin ng pinoy yan. LOL
Ahem, most phones nowadays are made from China! Even Apple’s I-phone is made (or assembled as what the back says) in China…
@Josh.. Thanks for sharing that nice explanation to those who might not know.. It’s true though.. ODMs or Original design manufacturers does help small companies like Cherry Mobile to venture more into the market without the need to get their own factories or for Big MNCs to keep up with the huge number of demands.
For some who don’t know Compal Electronics and Quanta Computer Inc (both from Taiwan) have long been ODMs for the likes of DELL, ALIENWARE, HP, ACER and even APPLE. So that doesn’t mean that if it came from China it lacks quality..
Hehe, some of the comments here are just funny. Just because it looks the same doesn’t mean it’s a rip-off or a clone.
They might simply have the same ODM. Even in laptops, it happens. It isn’t unusual for an Acer and a Dell/Alienware laptop to be made by the same manufacturer for example.
i.e. It’s like saying Sager is cloning Alienware laptops, when in fact they were manufactured by the same company.
In this case, it is very much possible that Cherry Mobile simply purchased the bare units from the very same ODM that Gigabyte purchased their GSmart phone. Only difference is, Gigabyte bought theirs out first.
It was like HTC a few years ago. They were simply an ODM designing for whoever was interested in re-branding their phones.
what else is new..! China means Manufacturer of rip off, fake, imitation, and low quality branded products..
The filipinos are only practical bsta mura n di n iniisip yung “long term”
I believe there are cellphone factories in China that make generic devices and phones, then embed logos for respective investors.
Copyright issues aside, I’d like to know about the unit itself. Does it work? Is it reasonably sturdy?
@roan carl
mabenta ang cherry mobiles especially sa lower class market.. never estimate them, they’re the biggest bracket of consumers. china phones nga sobrang mabenta.. eto pa namay registered name ng manufacturer..
IMAO, yun ang naging success ng nokia, sa mga entry level phones nila.
yung design hindi maganda.
@roan carl – a source tells me Cherry Mobile sells 100,000 units a month.
Who cares?
who cares about these trash phones hehehe…
hmmmm… maybe hindi naman. wee see some HTC phones a few years ago that were being sold as Sprint, T-Mobile, Vodafone, or O2 phones so baka nagtie-up ang dalawa. otherwise, magkakabangga ang dalawa sa parehong design.
Actually most of the designs of their phones are copied mostly from Nokia and BlackBerry. Expect that design because their phones are made in China.
@nexusboy
china has little belief in what we call copyright infringement
just the same its a china phone even myphone is a china phone pretending to be pinoy or pnoy thats already apolitical another issue by the way cant help commenting
i will never buy cherry mobile again. It’s not a pinoy phone.
Oh My God, cherrymobile? the nerve! this phone manufacturer will never earn respect in the industry. nakakahiya.