- The Washington Times - Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Apple Watch knockoffs are being sold in China more than one month before the new devices hit stores.

Customers who are more interested in the status associated with owning an Apple Watch instead of actually having an authentic product can buy the fakes for as little as $40.

“These guys are specialists,” said Laurent Le Pen, the founder and CEO of smartwatch maker Omate, which is based in Shenzhen, CNN reported Tuesday. “The speed at which they can bring copies on the market is amazing.”

The knockoff Apple product can be found at the Huaqiangbei electronics market in the southern city of Shenzhen along with multiple e-commerce websites, CNN reported. The devices run on an Android operating system that mimics Apple’s well-known interface.

“The hardware is not the big challenge — the hard part is on the software and the application side,” Le Pen told CNN. “In the end, you sometimes need to be an expert to tell the difference between real and fake.”

Apple Watches are expected to cost roughly $350 in the U.S.

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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