Chinese Apple Watch knockoffs now available for sale

If you don’t want to wait a month for your Apple Watch, you can buy a Chinese knockoff right now.

Knockoff versions of the Apple Watch can be found at Huaqiangbei electronics market in the southern city of Shenzhen, and others are being sold nationwide via popular e-commerce websites.

The fakes mimic the design and style of Apple’s new offering, right down to the digital crown. With names like “Ai Watch” and “D-Watch,” they cost between 250 yuan and 500 yuan (US$40 to US$80).

Most run an Android operating system that has been made to look like an Apple interface. They even have snazzy Apple-like icons on the home screen.

The early availability of knockoffs underscores the speed at which Chinese “shanzhai,” or counterfeiters, are able to design and bring fakes to market. In this case, their products are on the street even before Apple’s.

“These guys are specialists,” said Laurent Le Pen, the founder and CEO of smartwatch maker Omate, which is based in Shenzhen. “The speed at which they can bring copies on the market is amazing.”

Le Pen, who has waged his own battle against the shanzhai, said the Apple Watch is a prime target. The first few copycat watches will be rough imitations, he said, but as counterfeiters hone their design, they will get closer and closer to the real thing.

“The hardware is not the big challenge — the hard part is on the software and the application side,” he said. “In the end, you sometimes need to be an expert to tell the difference between real and fake.”

You may not love the end result, you may not admire the product, but the knockoff industry, it moves at the speed of commerce…and that has to be respected.

Via CNN Money