Not long ago, it was mobile phones of all ranges and brands that dominated the grey market. Now Chinese versions of the iPOD, better-known as the mPODs can be bought in the grey market for less than half the price.
The Chinese version of the iPod mini has got a USB 2.0 connector, plays MP3s and WMA files, and contains a built-in FM tuner. "It costs half the price, but one can make out that it is fake. Rumours are that almost 14 million mPODs were sold in the US in December," says a grey market dealer. Apart from this original versions of iPODs are also available and many prefer to buy fakes. The reason for this is not just the cost, but also the quality. Sheikh, a technology enthusiast says, "The quality of the electronics that we buy from the grey market are sometimes much better than what is sold in showrooms. The Finnish versions of Nokia phones are better than the Chinese and Asia Pacific versions, because quality differs according to the country."
Other products that are flooding the grey market are N series of Nokia phones, Multi Media Card (MMC), memory cards that fit in phones, PDAs, digicams, notebook and mobile phone software for smart phones.