7 ms·

17 year old geek makes $130,000 selling White iPhone 4 conversion kits

44 points by Concours 16y ago

stuhacking 16y ago
That article is pretty light on content, however it does link to a better version: http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/white-iphone-four-sending-kid-college http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/white-iphone-four...
niqolas 16y ago
SMH: "I've read you've made over $100K in just a couple of weeks, is that correct?" Fei Lam: "That number is bull. I made only 30-40k. 100k was income before cost of product. Every time a site picks up the story it changes a little bit..." Source- http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/iphone/legal-action-eyes-creator-of-black-to-white-iphone-4-converter-kit-20101118-17yf0.html http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/iphone/legal-action-eyes-...
- scrrr 16y ago
  Legal action? What the fuck. They should embrace such people that are essentially fans AND evangelists and not threaten them, just because they haven't been able to ship a white iPhone. Somebody tell me a good reason why this behavior would be justified.
  - jlmendezbonini 16y ago
    Agree with you but is not whether there's a good reason or not, it's about Apple protecting their brand. They probably won't sue him, at least that's what I'm hoping for a young entrepreneur, but he is definitely not going to be able to keep selling his conversion kit. His supplier is in big trouble.
    - YooLi 16y ago
      It's not his conversion kit. It's white Apple parts directly from Foxconn (i.e. they are official Apple parts) that a friend of his who works at Foxconn is able to procure. More bluntly, they are stolen Apple parts.
  - itg 16y ago
    He is selling licensed parts for Apple that he got directly from foxconn while making a profit from them, and you're complaining about legal action?
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - RodgerTheGreat 16y ago
    If I hire someone to steal something, we are both at fault and could reasonably be held responsible. If Apple made agreements with the manufacturer in which the dies/plans/whatever are the property of Apple and can only be used to make parts for Apple (which would make sense), then the manufacturer is clearly stealing from Apple by providing the same parts to another party. I think it makes a lot of sense for Apple to sue his supplier. It may also make sense for Apple to sue him, legally, but the cost/reward of legal action against a poor minor is probably not worth it to Apple.
eitally 16y ago
These kits (both legit Foxconn parts and third party bits&pieces) abound in Shenzhen. I think I saw more fake iPads than real ones, too, but until you start playing with them it's hard to tell they're not OEM.

44 points by Concours 16y ago

That article is pretty light on content, however it does link to a better version: http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/white-iphone-four-sending-kid-college http://www.observer.com/2010/daily-transom/white-iphone-four...

niqolas 16y ago

SMH: "I've read you've made over $100K in just a couple of weeks, is that correct?" Fei Lam: "That number is bull. I made only 30-40k. 100k was income before cost of product. Every time a site picks up the story it changes a little bit..." Source- http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/iphone/legal-action-eyes-creator-of-black-to-white-iphone-4-converter-kit-20101118-17yf0.html http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/iphone/legal-action-eyes-...

scrrr 16y ago
Legal action? What the fuck. They should embrace such people that are essentially fans AND evangelists and not threaten them, just because they haven't been able to ship a white iPhone. Somebody tell me a good reason why this behavior would be justified.
- jlmendezbonini 16y ago
  Agree with you but is not whether there's a good reason or not, it's about Apple protecting their brand. They probably won't sue him, at least that's what I'm hoping for a young entrepreneur, but he is definitely not going to be able to keep selling his conversion kit. His supplier is in big trouble.
  - YooLi 16y ago
    It's not his conversion kit. It's white Apple parts directly from Foxconn (i.e. they are official Apple parts) that a friend of his who works at Foxconn is able to procure. More bluntly, they are stolen Apple parts.
- itg 16y ago
  He is selling licensed parts for Apple that he got directly from foxconn while making a profit from them, and you're complaining about legal action?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- RodgerTheGreat 16y ago
  If I hire someone to steal something, we are both at fault and could reasonably be held responsible. If Apple made agreements with the manufacturer in which the dies/plans/whatever are the property of Apple and can only be used to make parts for Apple (which would make sense), then the manufacturer is clearly stealing from Apple by providing the same parts to another party. I think it makes a lot of sense for Apple to sue his supplier. It may also make sense for Apple to sue him, legally, but the cost/reward of legal action against a poor minor is probably not worth it to Apple.

eitally 16y ago

These kits (both legit Foxconn parts and third party bits&pieces) abound in Shenzhen. I think I saw more fake iPads than real ones, too, but until you start playing with them it's hard to tell they're not OEM.