Zitron is the distributor for Nokia phones in Malaysia. For AP (Approved
Products) set means, its not by Zitron or any other licensed
distributors by Nokia Corporation.
Advantage for AP (Approved Products) sets phone is its cheaper than
Zitron and the disadvantage is customers only gets less than a year
warranty and all fixes will cost own money.
AP (Approved Products) set is directly ordered by the shop owner or
other distributors. There are also European sets. Purchasers usually can
tell by the packaging also the manual book included inside usually not
in English language or any language the original country supplied.
To differentiate, checkout for the Zitron hollogram sticker, usually sticked underneath the battery slot on the phone.
Original Mobilephone Sets
- Nokia's authorised distributors are Zitron, AvaXX and i-Mobile.
- Sony Ericsson authorised distributors are T-Choice, Grandtech and Midlands.
- First Mobile Group (FMG) is the main distributor of Samsung phones and is giving 18 months warranty.
- Motorola authorised distributor are Satellite Technics, Zitron and MDM.
- Siemens authorised distributors are Zitron and First Mobile Group (FMG).
- Customer's can service their mobilephone at any service centres (Nokia
Professional Centre, Sony Ericsson Certified Service Centres, etc)
- 1 year warranty for the full set including charger, battery & handsfree kit.
- Geniune parts are used for repairing & replacements.
AP (Approved Products) Sets
- Approved Products which is mainly imported from overseas or imported from other countries meant to be sold originally.
- AP (Approved Products) set warranty by companies such as Final Choice, CSL, Nefion, Telstra, GTMax, etc.
- 1 year warranty for the phone and 1 month for the accesories supplied together such as, charger, battery & handsfree kit.
- Customer's must bring their mobilephone back to the place they originally bought the phone for servicing and warranty claims.
Usually AP set with foreign Vodafone or T-Mobile logo, it means that
your phone might be service provider locked. Those Vodafone or T-Mobile
are the service operators in the UK and that's where the phones
originally meant to be sold. Not all AP sets have the logo. AP sets are
Approved Products which means that these products are certified by SIRIM
Berhad that the product is safe to use.
In other words, AP (Approved Products) product not brought in by the
authorised distributor such as Midland, T-Choice for SE, Avaxx or Zitron
for Nokia, FMG for Samsung and etc. The phones can even come from
Singapore and may even have the M1, Singtel or Starhub logo. Remember to
check the phone if it is locked especially those from Singapore and
Vodafone.
AP (Approved Products) sets has different level of quality control. Big
AP (Approved Products) companies like Final Choice, GTMAX, Nefion,
Telstra, O'Connors have extensive quality control checks. Others like
MSL, YS, PLANTRONICS or names not mentioned here, are slightly cheaper
than the original. Whether they replaced their mobilephone with other
replacement parts, its another question.
AP (Approved Products) set actually paid government tax but is just that
they are not taxed by the Local Authorised Dealer. AP (Approved
Products) set is normally distributed by small handphones companies and
they might stop business anytime and that depends on the business
levels.
Futhermore if there's major damage on the AP (Approved Products) set,
the AP (Approved Products) companies might not have enough equipments to
fix it. At the end, they still have to send it to the authorised dealer
(eg. Zitron, Avaxx). There are reconditioned set might be known as
water set, so beware when purchasing AP (Approved Products) units.
Reconditioned sets are second-hand handphones from overseas, the
importer just change the phone cover (might not be original cover) and
do some servicing, replacing parts inside and sell it as an AP (Approved
Products) set with warranty 1 year. As far as known FMG will not fix
mobilephones other than FMG warranty handset (even they are paid to do
so).
Identify Original and AP(Approved Products) Set -> IMPORTANT !!!
- Take out the phone case and battery.
- Original set comes with authorised company sticker (Zitron, Avaxx, T-Choice, Midland...)
- AP (Approved Products) set comes with AP (Approved Products) company sticker.
- Press *#06# to check the phone 15 digit serial number (IMEI).
- Compare it with the IMEI written on phone sticker (back of phone case) and package box sticker.
- For original / original AP (Approved Products) sets, these serial numbers are the same.
IMEI - International Mobile Equipment Identity
Short for International Mobile Equipment Identity, a unique number given
to every single mobile phone, typically found behind the battery.
IMEI numbers of cellular phones connected to a GSM network are stored in
a database (EIR - Equipment Identity Register) containing all valid
mobile phone equipment.
When a phone is reported stolen or is not type approved, the number is marked invalid.
The number consists of four groups that looks this: nnnnnn--nn-nnnnnn-n
The first set of numbers is the type approval code (TAC). The first two
digits represent the country code. The rest make up the final assembly
code. The second group of numbers identifies the manufacturer:
01 and 02 = AEG
07 and 40 = Motorola
10 and 20 = Nokia
41 and 44 = Siemens
51 = Sony, Siemens, Ericsson
The third set is the serial number and the last single digit is an additional number (usually 0).
- The information above has been sent via email to me and just as
guidance posted here. Credits goes to the original author from anywhere
in this world.
