David Pierson wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “Falling prices for brand-name models are just one reason crude clones are becoming passe. International pressure led to periodic crackdowns by Chinese authorities. Bad press about exploding batteries and high radiation in some flimsy phones scared off some customers as well. Chinese consumers increasingly want devices that allow them to surf the Web, play games and download apps, a level of sophistication that's tough for some low-rent producers to deliver. Some upwardly mobile city dwellers wouldn't dare risk losing face by carrying a knockoff phone.

"After playing with my friends' smartphones, I had to get one of my own," said Xiong, gripping a $275 touch-screen Motorola handset outside a Beijing subway station. "I would never buy a fake one because it wouldn't be able to do the same things."

Still, demand for shanzhai phones remains strong in rural areas and among migrant workers earning only a few hundred dollars a month. "People in China are practical," said CK Lu, an analyst with research firm Gartner Inc. "It's not shameful to use fake phones any more than it is to carry a fake Louis Vuitton bag."