Apple and Brazil have an interesting relationship. Their largest manufacturing partner Foxconn has a number of facilities there as production costs become cheaper than the traditionally inexpensive Chinese labor.
Which is why this Brazilian “iPhone” is rather odd.
A Brazilian electronics company called Gradiente claims to have exclusive rights to the “iphone” name in the country, and has released their own iPhone. The phone in question is an Android 2.3 device which is two full iterations behind the current 4.2 Jellybean build of Android utilized on recent flagship releases. The company claims it has the rights to Apple’s phone namesake until 2018 and will continue to use the name as part of corporate restructuring process according to the Associated Press.
“In Brazil, Gradiente has the exclusive right to use the iPhone brand. This company will adopt all the measures used by companies around the world to preserve its intellectual property rights.” — Graiente Press Release
However, Gradiente has a history of releasing subpar ripoffs, and cheap electronics. The company, founded in 1964, even released it's own licensed, but rebranded NES system in the 80's. Innovation doesn't appear to be one of the company's strong points.
Sources: Gizmodo, Associated Press
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