View source for $7 cell phone

'''The Story'''

In April 2014, on the way home from a business trip to Southeast Asia, I spent a few days in Shenzhen, China, to visit the [http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/04/19/global-geek-shenzhen-seg-market-mega-post/ famous electronics markets of Huaqiang Bei], catch [http://www.shenzhenmakerfaire.com/ Shenzhen Maker Faire], and spend a little time with the attendees of [http://dangerousprototypes.com/hackercampshenzhen/ Hacker Camp Shenzhen].

Having read [http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=3107 Bunnie Huang's blog post] about a $12 locally-manufactured phone he bought at Shenzhen's Mingtong Digital Communications Market (also known as the "Dodgy Cell Phone Market"), I was interested to check out that market and maybe get one myself. As it turns out, the product has changed and the price has since gone down.

[[File:mingtong1.jpg|50px]]

[[File:mingtong2.jpg|50px|The vendor on the right is assembling "Nokias".]]


Mingtong is crazy. Many floors of kiosks selling fake Samsung and Apple phones, phones shaped like cars or improbably blinged out. I asked a number of vendors for their cheapest phone, and they all showed me the same phone -- most all the other vendors carried it too -- a nondescript candybar phone that looked a bit like a classic Nokia, but with 3M adhesive backing around the screen (I have to wonder -- real 3M?). The asking price for these was about 45 RMB or a little more than US$7. I bought three. The vendor peeled off the adhesive backing on each and slapped on a Samsung faceplate, explaining that she was all out of Nokia faceplates and couldn't offer me a choice.

[[File:mingtong3.jpg|50px|Vendor putting faceplates on the phones]]
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'''The Phone'''