There was a ruckus recently about a Chinese youth who sold a kidney for an iPhone and iPad. (NPR: Chinese Teen Sells Kidney For iPad And iPhone) In reality, this is not a "new" story. We recall several cases of young Chinese willing to trade a kidney for a shiny iGadget. While not common, it does reflect the importance of keeping up and the close connection between consumer goods and status.

Online, we have seen two ways that consumers "fake" an iPhone signature online.

7 steps for a DIY user:
#1 find and save an iPhone sign-in logo from the Internet (or simply a screenshot from QQ friend who is logging in via iPhone)
#2 use Photoshop to add the iPhone sign-in logo onto your avatar
#3 upload the edited avatar to QQ
#4 customize the QQ online status from "online", "busy", or "away" to "iPhone QQ online"
#5 add the sentence every time you talk to someone on QQ: "(本消息由您的好友通过iPhone QQ发送，详情请访问： http://apple.qq.com/ ) (meaning this message is sent by your friend via iPhone QQ, for details please visit:http://apple.qq.com/)" (this appears automatically if an iPhone user starts conversation via QQ)
#6 edit the sentence font to black Song typeface, size 9
#7 now it's time to enjoy your DIY result

5 steps to pay for the signature (but not the phone):
#1 go to Taobao.com and search for iPhone QQ sign-in service
#2 choose from various packages (1 RMB for 5 days' trial, 5 RMB/month, 10 RMB/3 months, 30 RMB/year)
#3 sign-in provider will log in with your QQ 24/7 using apps on iPhone or iPad (won't effect if user is on QQ too)
#4 sentence "Sign in from my iPhone" will appear next to your avatar for your entire network to see
#5 enjoy the jealous looks behind the screens (and even convenience of hooking up with stangers)

From the article of Off Beat China:

For many consumers in China, the only reason of buying an iPhone is to show their friends that they have one. Now if everybody on their friend list sees that they are “signing in from iPhone”, there is no point in owning the actual phone any more. Marketing messages from iPhone signature services speak very well to the minds of these consumers:

“Iphone signature, it is the sign of your respectable identity. iPhone signature, only 2 yuan and you are one of the high society. iPhone signature, with it, you are the most in and most hot.”

”Sign in from my iPhone” – Your friend is showing off his new iPhone again. But you cannot afford one. So all you can do is to watch with jealousy? The answer is no!”

“Confidence lost in front of a 4999-yuan iPhone regained in the online world.”