Original Sets vs.

AP (Approved Products) Sets

A General Reading Information
Zitron is the distributor for Nokia phones in Malaysia. For AP (Approved Product
s) set means, its not by Zitron or any other licensed distributors by Nokia Corp
oration.
Advantage for AP (Approved Products) sets phone is its cheaper than Zitron and t
he disadvantage is customers only gets less than a year warranty and all fixes w
ill cost own money.
AP (Approved Products) set is directly ordered by the shop owner or other distri
butors. There are also European sets. Purchasers usually can tell by the packagi
ng also the manual book included inside usually not in English language or any l
anguage the original country supplied.
To differentiate, checkout for the Zitron hollogram sticker, usually sticked und
erneath 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 givi
ng 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 Profess
ional 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 othe
r countries meant to be sold originally.
- AP (Approved Products) set warranty by companies such as Final Choice, CSL, Ne
fion, 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 boug
ht 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 ope
rators in the UK and that's where the phones originally meant to be sold. Not al
l AP sets have the logo. AP sets are Approved Products which means that these pr
oducts 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 especia
lly those from Singapore and Vodafone.
AP (Approved Products) sets has different level of quality control. Big AP (Appr
oved Products) companies like Final Choice, GTMAX, Nefion, Telstra, O'Connors ha
ve extensive quality control checks. Others like MSL, YS, PLANTRONICS or names n
ot 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 ar
e not taxed by the Local Authorised Dealer. AP (Approved Products) set is normal
ly distributed by small handphones companies and they might stop business anytim
e and that depends on the business levels.
Futhermore if there's major damage on the AP (Approved Products) set, the AP (Ap
proved Products) companies might not have enough equipments to fix it. At the en
d, they still have to send it to the authorised dealer (eg. Zitron, Avaxx). Ther
e are reconditioned set might be known as water set, so beware when purchasing A
P (Approved Products) units.
Reconditioned sets are second-hand handphones from overseas, the importer just c
hange the phone cover (might not be original cover) and do some servicing, repla
cing parts inside and sell it as an AP (Approved Products) set with warranty 1 y
ear. As far as known FMG will not fix mobilephones other than FMG warranty hands
et (even they are paid to do so).
Identify Original and AP(Approved Products) Set
- Take out the phone case and battery.
- Original set comes with authorised company sticker (Zitron, Avaxx, T-Choice, M
idland...)
- 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 pac
kage 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 ever
y single mobile phone, typically found behind the battery.
IMEI numbers of cellular phones connected to a GSM network are stored in a datab
ase (EIR - Equipment Identity Register) containing all valid mobile phone equipm
ent.
When a phone is reported stolen or is not type approved, the number is marked in
valid.
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 r
epresent 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 nu
mber (usually 0).

Important Note:
- The information above has been sent via email to me and just as guidance poste
d here. Credits goes to the original author from anywhere in this world.
SakuraGuy
Zerotohundred.Com