22 more fake Apple stores found in Kunming, China, says report

BirdAbroad

(CBS) - Authorities in the remote city of Kunming, China have reportedly identified 22 fake Apple stores in addition to knockoff Apple stores that were discovered and widely reported on in July.

Apple China accused the stores of violating the company's trademark, and Chinese officials say the stores have been ordered to stop using the company's logo, reports Reuters.

Two fake Apple stores were previously shut down in Kunming. The Metropolitan Times reported that those shops were targeted due to lack of business licenses, rather than intellectual property or copyright infringement.

The international media took notice of the fake stores when 27-year-old American blogger BirdAbroad wrote about the odd placement of an Apple store in what the she called "the end of the Earth." Upon further examination inconsistencies were noted, including a misspelled sign and incorrect employee name tags. 

According to the blogger, even the employees were under the impression that they were working for the American company. 

Larry Dignan of ZDNet observed that Apple is one of the few cases where "the Chinese consumer wants the real Apple over a knock-off." The idea of counterfeit Apple products comes as a shock, even in a country known for its high-quality knock-offs.

[Jhihmoac]

"Look, I've got a new App-...OK, why does it look more like a pear?"

[rc55]

"Comes as a shock" "high quality"? What kind of mushrooms have you been eating? This is the country that has tried to poison Americans and its own people thru food products, lead and cadmium in kids toys, even poisoning pet food sold in America. They have told the non-chinese car manufacturers that if they wanted to make cars in their country, they would have to surrender things like the company's hybrid technology (in other words..give us your proprietary property, so we don't have to steal it). The government probably encourages this activity for a price. Sorta like our Congress willing to give away our jobs for a price!

[richie3465]

wow so easy for them to make the knokof products hell they are the ones that make the real apple products probably all comes from the same factory!!!!