In 2008, an estimated 150 million, or 20 percent, of the 750 million handsets produced in China were counterfeit or off-brand phones, according to CCID Consulting, a market research firm based in Beijing. Of those, over 51 million were sold in China while the remainders were sent to foreign markets.
根据北京的市场调研公司CCID公布的数据显示，2008年估计有1.5亿部也就是接近市场总量 7.5亿部20%的手机，是伪造或是没有标签的。这个报告里还指出，其中有超过5100万部在中国出 售，而其他的则被销往国外。
Known here as “shanzhai ji”，or bandit phones, China’s gray market handset industry was virtually non-existent just a few years ago. While a handful of illegal companies produced black market mobiles, they often were of poor quality mainly because the technology needed to make them was hard to come by and even harder to master.
这种手机即所谓的“山寨机”，在几年前基本上不存在这样的灰色手机市场。那个时候，尽管有几个非法成立的公司生产这种手机，但手机质量通常很差，因为能 弄到制造手机的技术就已经非常困难了，更别说是要掌握这种技 术。
This all changed in 2005 when Mediatek, a microchip design company from Taiwan, developed what experts call a turnkey solution-a platform that integrated many complex mobile phone software systems onto a single chip. This made it much easier and cheaper to build handsets and churn out new models at astounding speeds.
这一切在2005年发生了天翻地覆的变化。来自台湾的联发科技 微电子设计公司发明了一种被专家称为“全程解决方案”的平台， 这种平台把无数复杂的手机软件系统集成到一个电路板上。这样， 制造手机就变得非常容易且廉价，并且手机翻新的速度也快得'原 人。
“Mediatek basically commoditized the entire market,” said Jonathan Li, founder of Shanghai-based technology design studio Asentio Design. “They made it really simple and really cheap to make your own phone. Almost anybody could do it.，，
“联发基本占有了整个市场”,总部位于上海的技术设计工作室 Asentio Design公司的创始人之一说到：“他们使得自主生产手机 变得非常简单且造价不高。几乎每个人都可以做到。”
The shanzhai business got another boost a couple of years later when the Chinese government relaxed regulations limiting the number of companies that could manufacture handsets, lowering the entry barrier for hundreds of entrepreneurs eager to have a piece of the world’s biggest mobile phone market.
两年后,政府放松了对生产手机的工厂的数量管制后山寨手 机的生产进一步并喷。降低的准入门槛让无数创业者都想在中 国——这个世界最大的手机市场中分到一杯羹。
However, the shanzhai phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by legitimate handset manufacturers. The gray market phones, which typically sell for around $100，have already driven down the prices of brand name mobiles and are beginning to take away their market share, too.
然而，山寨现象并没有获得法律上的认可。这些通常售价在100 美元左右的山寨手机，不仅极大地拉低了品牌手机的价格，甚至幵 始抢占他们的市场份额。
“You cannot compete with them. You can't,” said an employee of Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies who spoke on the condition of anonymity, “h is almost impossible to make a profit now because of shanzhai?，’
“你根本无法跟他们竞争！ ”一个不愿意透露姓名的中国电信 设备制造厂商华为集团的一名员工说，“因为‘山寨’，我们几乎赚不到钱。”
Some experts say this is because the companies involved in it blur the boundaries between legitimate and illegitimate enterprises. Even though they may still partake in shady practices, such as evading taxes, avoiding safety checks and using pirated software, a growing number of bandit phone firms are becoming licensed, creating brands with nearly as much recognition as established domestic ones.
一些专家表示这是因为很多公司都模糊了合法和非法企业的分界。尽管他们可能涉及一些不 合法的行为，比如逃税、避免安全检查和使用盗版软件，越来越多的山寨手机生产企业已经进行了 注册，并获得国内用户的认可开始开创自己的品牌。
And whether licensed or not, nearly all the grey market firms place orders with mobile phone component companies that work with major manufacturers as well’ which keeps factories up and running especially as handset sales plummet amidst the economic downturn.
不管注册与否，几乎所有的山寨手机企业.都同时和那些同大的生产商合作的手机零件制造 商订制产品，以获得更多的商机。特别在经济低迷、手机销售量不尽人意的时期。
Many shanzhai companies have begun to move beyond mere copying and into the realm of creativity. Some have been developed to suit the needs of the local market, with two slots for SIM cards for businesspeople traveling between Taiwan, Hong Kong and the mainland.
很多山寨手机公司已经不仅仅只是做着抄袭的工作，他们已经开始进入了自主研发的阶段。 有的公司甚至还根据当地需要研发了适合本土市场的产品，比如说为在大陆、香港、台湾之间往来 的商务人员量身打造的带有两个SIM卡槽的手机。
Some have gimmicky appearances, like cigarettes boxes or watches, but others have special lights that can be used to identify fake money, large screens and keypads for the elderly or extra loud speakers for farmers who may not be able to hear their phones while working outside.
有的甚至还拥有别致的外观，比如像一个雪茄烟盒或是手表，还有一些其他的则可以发出特 殊的光线来鉴别假钞，或是为老人设计的超大屏幕和键盘以及为农民设汁的超大铃声手机，使得 他们在外工作也可以不错过电话。
“This is an important way to cultivate grassroots innovation，” saidJack LinchuanLiu,acommunications professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong whohasstudied theshanzhaiindustry. “There is a lot of raw power in the development of these bandit phones that could be channeled into normal，productive creativity from the bottom up.”
“这也是刺激经济革新的重要手段之一。”香港中文大学信息学教授刘林川说,他专门对山寨 工业进行了研究。“在这些山寨手机的发展过程中有着很多原生的力量，这种力量可以被引导成自 下而上的正常有效的创造力。”