Look at it this way. Nobody produces at a loss and stays in business. The Chinko phones are cheap in the first place because corners have been cut in many areas, including safety. No pretence is made to make these counterfeited devices meet international quality standards. And when they get into Nigeria, they are distributed in the grey market (outside the official, authorised distribution networks of the original equipment manufacturers).
Consequently, the phones bypass the Type Approval process of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). In essence, when you use this phone, you are truly and genuinely on your own (OYO).
Speaking to the media in Lagos on Monday, Silvin Sinan, the Head of Nokia Care Centre, Nokia West Africa, highlighted some of the dangers of chinko phones to include short life span and excessive radiation. Many Nigerians would nod their heads to the first one. Buyers of chinko phones don’t buy it to last. They buy it because it is cheap and looks like the expensive original. It’s the second danger that is not so well known, because you don’t feel it. Exposure to radiation won’t kill you in years, but will ultimately.
So how can you tell a phone is Chinko? Very easy. If someone offers you a brand new Samsung Galaxy S3 that goes for about N100k at the curious price of N20k, it’s either stolen or counterfeited. Either way, you should take to your heels.
