An Oppo or LibrePhone might be a peer substitute to an iPhone a neckbeard on HN, but an Apple iPhone is still a luxury good.
Sell goods with a strong brand cache and they will continue to sell like hotcakes.
You will be skewered for using a knockoff.
Conversely, this is why Temu and Shien do well - why should I spend $20 at Uniqlo or $40 at GAP on fast fashion when I can spend $10 for the exact same thing on those Apps. It comes from the same factories in China and Vietnam anyhow
Tbf this happens anywhere in the developing world - Asia, Eastern Europe, South+Central America, or Africa.
Which sounds like an awesome side effect.
This isn't quite true: Uniqlo only sells their own designs. You may think Uniqlo's and Temu/Shein's stuff is basically the same cheap crap, but the designs really are different. AFAICT, Shein's business is copying other higher-end brand stuff and making it in various different factories, whereas Uniqlo (along with its sister brand, GU) designs its own stuff that's really popular in the Japanese market.