Enter Goophone I5, Looking a Lot Like Apple’s iPhone 5

Want to get an iPhone 5 but can’t handle the wait for the Apple release later this month? You might consider buying a knockoff from Goophone. This little-known Chinese company has just announced the launch of its own iPhone 5 look-alike, the Goophone I5, and says it has already patented it in China, according to Gizchina.com. It may even consider suing Apple when the Cupertino (Calif.) company starts selling its sixth-generation iPhone in China, reports the tech and gadgets website.

Goophone’s Apple clone is believed to be a close copy of the iPhone 5. Like Apple’s upcoming smartphone, it reportedly has a larger 4-inch screen. It also has a smaller dock connector. Apart from a small honeybee logo on the back (and, at $300, a likely cheaper price — Apple hasn’t announced what it will charge for its next phone in China), it looks remarkably like the much-anticipated next-generation iPhone. But it runs on Google’s Android system and is believed to have much more limited functions internally.

Goophone apparently is the smartphone business of Shenzhen Shenma Lianzhong e-Commerce. The company was founded in 2011 and has more than 500 employees, according to its website. It also sells a clone of a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

The GooPhone I5 is a smartphone running Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) and has a design that bears an uncanny resemblance to leaked photos of Apple's upcoming iPhone 5. While the Apple smartphone is scheduled for a keynote announcement on September 12, the GooPhone is already available in China.

According to reports, the Chinese manufacturers have filed for a patent on the design and are ready to take Apple to court when the next iPhone debuts. However, it should be noted that the GooPhone I5 does not use the same components.

Instead it packs an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 1.4GHz processor, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel camera as well as a 4-inch display with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. The handset makers have also skinned it with an iOS 6 theme.

If you've done laughing (or shaking your head in disbelief), there's more. The GooPhone folks are also considering blocking the iPhone for sale in China, too. Grab your popcorn, this should be an interesting show if it happens.

However, one eagle eyed MacRumors forum visitor believes the facade show stretched iOS icons. Zaym points out that you can see stretched versions of iOS icons including Game Center, iTunes, Music and App Store in the image.

After taking the above image and skewing it and shrinking it, we've found he was correct, and it seems several icons are clearly recognizable in their un-stretched form.

JP Morgan analyst says iPhone 5 could boost GDP

September 11, 2012 3:56PM

The iPhone 5, expected to be unveiled by Apple Inc. Wednesday, could help the economy growth, according to a JP Morgan analyst.

“We believe the release of iPhone 5 could potentially add between a quarter- to a half-percentage-point to fourth-quarter annualized GDP growth,” Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist for JP Morgan, wrote in a research note.

The analysis:

♦Estimates about 8 million iPhone 5s will be sold in the United States in the fourth quarter at a price of $600, based on previous launching of iPhones.

♦Subtracts $200 a phone for imported parts, means each iPhone would add $400 to Gross Domestic Product.

♦Expects that even with the new model, earlier generation iPhones will maintain their sales pace.

Based on those assumptions, sales of the iPhone 5 could add $3.2 billion to GDP, or $12.8 billion at an annual rate, boosting annualized growth in the fourth quarter by 0.33 percent.

“This estimate seems fairly large, and for that reason should be treated skeptically,” Feroli wrote. “However, we think the recent evidence is consistent with this projection.”