Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

"the strange demand in the concept of consumption" recently, a video entitled "Huaqiang North defeats Cook" has sparked a heated discussion among netizens on the Internet.

When iPhone 14 went on sale more than a month ago, netizens found that the US version of the model removed the physical SIM card slot and adopted eSIM technology. Many netizens have lamented that domestic consumers will miss the American version of iPhone 14. After all, domestic physical SIM cards are still the mainstream.

However, Huaqiang North Merchants, which "live up to expectations", finally succeeded in soldering the card slot on the American version of iPhone 14 and made a notch in the frame of the fuselage, so that the American version of iPhone 14 also plugged in the SIM card.

From the above-mentioned hotly discussed video, we can see that Huaqiang North merchants have overcome this "difficult problem". In the past, the "lock" of the unauthentic lock version of iPhone refers to the network lock, that is, the network of domestic operators cannot be used. As for the cancellation of the physical SIM card slot of the American version of iPhone 14, to a certain extent can also be classified as a locking machine.

In fact, due to the low price, the locked version of iPhone used to be very popular in the domestic market. In addition to the American version, it also includes some Japanese and European versions of iPhone. So much so that now on the mobile phone recycling platform, there is still a "external version with lock" option for consumers to choose from.

Some individual merchants have revealed that the cheapest American version is the lock iPhone, which once accounted for 60% to 70% of the number of unauthentic mobile phones in China. The battle of wits between Huaqiang North merchants and locked iPhone has a long history.

What is the logic of the consumer market behind this round of "defeating Cook"?

"01" iPhone "unlocking" is not a problem? "iPhone without SIM card slot is not new this year."

After the listing of the new generation of iPhone, I saw some media report the changes with "the design without SIM card slot for the first time". Hiro, a businessman who has been in the second-hand phone business for nearly a decade, shook his head and said he was speechless.

He said with a smile that the first iPhone he sold in the industry was the American version of the card-free slot C net iPhone 4. Hiro still remembers this. "the so-called C network refers to the CDMA system, which can only use telecommunications networks in the early days, and belongs to a kind of machines with locks."

Because the price is only about half of the real product, in 2013, many "smart" consumers chose to buy such a card-free iPhone 4. However, in order to use card-free mobile phones normally in China, it is necessary to "burn the number".

"there was no such thing as eSIM at that time, but the practice and principle of burning numbers are very similar to those of today's eSIM." Hiro explained that the "calling number" of the mobile phone refers to the use of computers and software to read the information from the user's SIM card, and then use the data cable to write the information to a specific module of the card-free slot iPhone 4 to obtain the operator network signal.

Once the "number burning" is successful, except that there is no card slot, the other functions of the iPhone 4 are basically the same as the authentic mobile phone and lock-free phone. He also pointed out that the late telecom once introduced the C-net iPhone 4 contract machine, and there was no card slot, and the way to "burn the number" was mainly through OTA technology.

"of course, the American version of iPhone 4 also has a version with a lock and a card slot, but the way it is unlocked is different." Hiro said that from iPhone 4 to iPhone 13, the US version of machines with locks have always existed in the mobile phone market, while iPhone with locks and card slots normally gets the signal not by "burning the number" but by "card stickers".

The so-called "card sticker" refers to the integration of the hardware and programs that unlock the network into a small circuit card. Because the card sticker is very thin, it can fit the SIM card perfectly and plug it into the SIM card slot of iPhone, so as to realize unlocking.

Ah Kuan said that with the maturity of the relevant technology, the card sticker for iPhone to unlock the network lock has become thinner and thinner, and the price is also very cheap. at present, on the mainstream e-commerce platform, a card that can make the iPhone unlocked in a second is less than 30 yuan. "this way of unlocking the card is also applicable to the Japanese and European versions of iPhone with locks."

Since then, there has even been a phenomenon in the industry that there are locks impersonating unlocked machines and selling them at authentic and unlocked prices. The practice of some businesses is to weld the thin card stickers into the mobile phone motherboard, resulting in the false appearance of a signal in the card, so as to deceive consumers.

It can be seen that, regardless of whether there is a card slot or no card slot, the unauthentic lock iPhone phone represented by the American version can be cracked in the hands of Huaqiang North merchants, and can be transformed into a machine with the same function and even appearance as the authentic one.

Hiro also stressed that although lock iPhone can still be seen on the market, the number and scale are gradually shrinking.

Since there is a lock iPhone can be unlocked through "special means", and the function, appearance and authentic mobile phones are the same, the price is cheap, why is the market facing shrinking?

"02" is it a headache to buy a lock iPhone? "having a lock iPhone interprets a business logic: there is a price for being cheap.

Due to the early lock "number burning" machine, it is very inconvenient to re-"burn the number" to the mobile phone every time the phone number is changed. Xiao K, another Huaqiang North businessman, revealed that in the early days, the "number-burning" service charged about 100 yuan at a time, while the equipment only needed card readers and computers, which could be regarded as a "profiteering" business.

As for the more widely used card stickers on locked iPhone, there are actually a lot of problems that affect the user experience. Different from "burning number", the lock iPhone with card sticker is used, and the signal can be obtained by reactivating the SIM card each time. "but this technology also has some operational risks."

Because of its convenience, card stickers once boosted sales of locked iPhone, and Xiao K recalled that his store sold hundreds of locked iPhone every day from 2016 to 2018. In its best days, tens of thousands of unlocked cards were sold almost every month.

"however, there is a problem with the card sticker lock iPhone, that is, you can't upgrade the system at will." Xiao K pointed out that although the early cards were of good workmanship and good quality, they could not be used as soon as they were upgraded to the iOS system. Therefore, users also need to buy a new generation of card stickers in order to unlock the network and get the signal again.

Therefore, some consumers using lock card stickers iPhone X, the current system is still iOS 11, do not dare to upgrade at will. To make matters worse, many Apple apps need to be on higher-level iOS systems in order to open and run properly.

The "progress" of iOS has also led to the upgrading of the technology of unlocking card stickers.

With the development of technology, some of the subsequent generations of unlocked card stickers can adapt to the automatic upgrade of the iOS system, but there is still a greater probability of not activating and obtaining signals, and the thinner and thinner card stickers are becoming "consumables" of the 3C industry to a certain extent.

"the quality of the early card sticker is good, but it cannot be upgraded. The new card sticker is very thin, but it is easy to be damaged during use." Many users told Xiao K that the ultra-thin unlocked card stickers sold online for 30 yuan were sometimes broken in less than half a year, and in order not to affect their use, some users bought several cards at a time, one damaged and the other "seamless" to replace.

But if only the card sticker failure is good, some inferior card stickers, high imitation card stickers, and even burn out the SIM card, damage the phenomenon of mobile phones.

The card sticker exists as a "peripheral", and it also affects the battery life of the mobile phone more or less. "the key is that the signal of the card sticking mobile phone is not better than that of the unlocked mobile phone, and the call quality and poor network speed are the norm."

Xiao K revealed that the inconvenience of using card stickers is one of the factors that affect users' choice and purchase of locked iPhone. Another key factor is the gradual decline in the supply of locked mobile phones on the market.

Early card stickers need jailbreak to use, but with the gradual improvement of the iOS system, jailbreak is becoming more and more difficult.

Today, although some of the unlocked iPhone cards need not be jailbroken, as Apple continues to block the loopholes in the "black unlock" of card stickers, the operation process of perfect unlocking has become very complicated, and the success rate has been declining. As the risk and profit is difficult to be proportional, naturally few businesses put in cost and energy to crack it.

There is a lock iPhone from the former "cost-effective" choice, is becoming only suitable for a small number of people to "support the scene" sharp weapon. This makes people wonder, what do those users who have endured all kinds of inconvenience and are still buying locked iPhone think?

"03" vanity propped up the consumer market. "can the American version of 14 Pro be changed to a card now?"

Since the video of Huaqiang North merchants soldering card slots on the American version of iPhone 14 has gone viral, Hiro has received Wechat inquiries from several regular customers every day. Among them, a customer nicknamed "Lemon" bought a locked mobile phone from Hiro's store since the 6th generation.

The mobile phone currently used by lemon is a national bank iPhone 12 mini. However, after seeing that the American version of 14 Pro has the possibility of "cracking", I can't help but be moved. Hiro's reply to him is the iPhone 14 of the solder card slot, which is still not stable enough.

"Don't talk about Pro now. The starting price of Bank of China 14 is 6000 yuan, but the American version is only 3000 yuan." Lemon told Hiro that the price of mobile phone can be halved just because there is no SIM card slot (physical SIM card cannot be used), which is so attractive.

He admitted that had it not been for the low success rate of hacking of iPhone 12 cards at that time, he would not have bought the Bank of China mini, which had not been perfectly cracked for a long time. As for the reasons why he loves card stickers, he is not shy about saying that he has no money but wants to save face.

In fact, when Apple launches a new generation of iPhone every year, lemons are almost always available in the quickest time. On business occasions, when friends get together, they put the latest generation of iPhone phones on the table, not to mention saving face. "anyway, no one will know that I bought a locked card sticker iPhone."

In order to keep abreast of the latest card sticking and hacking technologies in the industry, Lemon specially joined some communication groups, and most of its friends bought locked apples for the same reason as him.

Nowadays, the performance of domestic mobile phones is becoming more and more powerful, and their brand power and product power are no less than Apple, Samsung and other brands, and there are still a small number of consumers to buy cheap, locked versions of iPhone, which is indeed touching.

What is even more puzzling is that due to the various disadvantages of card hacking, consumers buy a locked version of iPhone, often just as a device.

Lemon revealed that because of the poor signal of the card sticker, he would not usually use it as a mainframe. "the person who goes out to make phone calls and surf the Internet is mainly that red rice."

Recently, some mobile phone merchants also said that the number of consumers consulting the American version of card-free slot iPhone 14 is gradually increasing, and some users even plan to buy the American version of 14 Pro just to use it as a Wifi version, even though they know that there is no card slot and that the cracking is not perfect.

Tens of millions of fruit fans, different mentality. Some buyers put aside the features that their smartphones are supposed to have, and buying a locked version is just vanity. If it were not for the improvement of the iOS system and the increasing difficulty of card hacking, there would still be a huge market demand for the cheap locked iPhone.

[conclusion] "Huaqiang North welding card slot to American version 14" is like "driving a Ferrari in Guangzhou Chen Tianhua 100m", which shows a certain consumer psychology and market supply and demand. Huaqiang North Merchants and Cook's technology war every year, whether as a joke or as a joke, it is also worth thinking about in the mobile phone industry.

But in fact, with the development of locked iPhone in the domestic market, it can be said that it has been walking on the edge of the law. With the improvement of various laws and regulations, the risk of selling and buying locked iPhone is also high. What's more, similar products can not enjoy the warranty of formal merchants, and the rights and interests of users are greatly reduced. Although the price is cheap, buying a locked iPhone is still a loss that outweighs the gain.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: know Notes (ID:dongdong_note), write | Magic Music Editor | Qin Yan.

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