Fake Apple Stores Mushrooming In China

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Fake Apple Stores Mushrooming In China

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday July 20, 2011 @05:14AM from the knock-off-business dept.

siliconbits writes "A new worrying phenomenon has cropped up in China and Apple has been its first victim; meet the first fake Apple Stores, entire buildings that have been designed to look like the real ones. Chinese companies have long been known for being master copiers but this takes the concept of plagiarism and copying to a whole new level. As expected, everything, from the architecture of the building, the colour of the paint, to the products, the T-shirt worn by the staff down to the logo and the badge design come from Cupertino."

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I am not worried by SmallFurryCreature · 2011-07-20 05:24 · Score: 5, Insightful

Worrying phenomenon for who? Not for me, for you? No? Then it ain't worrying. A new famine looms in Africa, China swears to brutally surpres discent in Tibet, hundreds are tortured and/or killed in Syria, the western world is embroiled in a near global war now and I am supposed to be worried about some stores in China that might mean Steve Jobs income is a few dollars lower? He didn't worry much about all the loss in income to westerners when he outsourced all production to China but I am supposed to worry when what everybody warned would happen (what is produced in China is copied in China) is happening?
Tell it to the marines, cry me a river, talk to the hand because the face ain't listening. I could go on but that might show I cared. Which I don't.
Cue Apple fanboys defending their gadgets being produced in slave labor camps with reaganomics.

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1. Re:I am not worried by brit74 · 2011-07-20 07:03 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Worrying phenomenon for who? Not for me, for you? No? Then it ain't worrying. A new famine looms in Africa, China swears to brutally surpres discent in Tibet, hundreds are tortured and/or killed in Syria, the western world is embroiled in a near global war now and I am supposed to be worried about some stores in China that might mean Steve Jobs income is a few dollars lower? He didn't worry much about all the loss in income to westerners when he outsourced all production to China but I am supposed to worry when what everybody warned would happen (what is produced in China is copied in China) is happening?
  
  Tell it to the marines, cry me a river, talk to the hand because the face ain't listening. I could go on but that might show I cared. Which I don't.
  
  Cue Apple fanboys defending their gadgets being produced in slave labor camps with reaganomics.
  Just so you know: anything bad that happens to you (whether rape, murder, theft, whatever) also measures pretty low next to famine in Africa, China in Tibet, torture in Syria, etc. I hope you use similar logic to remind people that they shouldn't have the least bit of concern for you no matter what the circumstances are.
Re:Not new but still worrisome... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-07-20 05:27 · Score: 2, Insightful

There's one difference between that and this:
This is one single piddly country crossing the Cult of Steve.
Expect a single, buttonless, brushed-steel smoldering iCrater across Asia, while white-earbud-wearing acolytes swoop in to seal the land.
Not so hidden cost of outsourcing by Nanosphere · 2011-07-20 05:38 · Score: 5, Insightful

Congrats giant corporations, maybe now you will see the dark side of outsourcing to a country like China. You fight so hard to acquire and defend patents and trademarks in the US, but guess what? The country you put all your manufacturing in doesn't care. And China has a growing economy unlike the US, so look at all that money you're losing! So you have a few choices: - Move manufacturing back to the US, where you can enforce your patent and trademark claims. - Give up the patent and trademark system and learn to make money without having a monopoly. - Keep losing money.
1. Re:Not so hidden cost of outsourcing by Kjella · 2011-07-20 06:11 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yes, because nobody's seen a fake rolex since it's manufactured in Switzerland. Sure, manufacturing makes it easier to get blueprints, machinery, parts, make extra production runs and so on but China will continue to imitate, even if you bring the production home. You'll never be able to sell to China as long as they continue to ignore IP law. They might give it lip service from time to time but on the whole they know ignoring it is good for their economy.
  
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2. Re:Not so hidden cost of outsourcing by KahabutDieDrake · 2011-07-20 06:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Do you really not understand this? No, I want you to stop and think about the chain of events for a few seconds...You still don't get it? Wow. Let me see if I can help... see, apple decided to make all their toys over in china. Shortly afterward massive numbers of counterfeit apple products started showing up in asian markets. Then, someone opened an entire store cloned off the apple store concepts.
  
  Do I actually have to draw a line between the shady as all fuck manufacturers that apple contracted with and the counterfeit products? Or are you simply unaware of typical Chinese manufacturing process? I can help there too. See, Manufacturer takes contract to run 12 hours a day at 150 units an hour. They use your source material, and their hardware to do the production run. Then, at the end of 12 hours, they shut down your production run and do another 12 hour production run, expect this time they use their own source material, and their own hardware, and they sell the fakes out the back door. Now, I know what you are thinking, this is BS, this isn't really how it happens. But it actually is.
You smell that? by ThatsNotPudding · 2011-07-20 05:44 · Score: 3, Insightful

It smells like...Karma.
"Highest revenue of 323 Apple stores worldwide" by Hermanas · 2011-07-20 05:50 · Score: 1, Insightful

The firm has only four stores in China, two in Beijing and two in Shanghai; these four stores in China have generated on average the highest traffic and highest revenue of any of the 323 Apple stores worldwide according to a statement by the Chief Financial Officer peter Oppenheimer back in January.
I know revenue isn't everything, but maybe Apple should be learning something from these guys, and not the other way round...
Re:Not new but still worrisome... by Lumpy · 2011-07-20 06:32 · Score: 3, Insightful

That is correct. Apple does not have the balls to pull it's manufacturing out of china. To get the manufacturing up and running elsewhere will do two things.
1 - bankrupt the company.
2 - force a triple price increase.
China has apple completely by the balls. Go ahead, get your iphones made in the USA,Europe,India or South america.. Oh wait none of them have the industries needed to make the device...
Ohhh so sorry!

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