China discovers another 22 fake Apple Stores
According to a report by Reuters the stores have been ordered to stop using Apple's logos after Apple China complained of unfair competition and violation of its registered trademarks.
The investigation was tipped off by a blog post by an American living in the city who reported on knockoff Apple Stores that were so convincing that even their employees thought they were working for the Cupertino-based company.
The outlets appear to be selling actual Apple products, although they are in many cases smuggled into the country to avoid paying taxes. Customers who discovered the stores were not really begin run by Apple ranged from upset and demanding refunds for their purchases to being unfazed by the ownership of the store, as long as the merchandise was legitimately from Apple.
Apple only operates four stores in China, although it announced plans to open 25 in the near future. The company's revenues in the Greater China region (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), have exploded by a factor of six to reach $3.8 billion in the last reported quarter.
Credit: BirdAbroad
33 Comments
Chinese Steve Jobs must be really angry right now!!
I'm wiping my drink off my monitor right now! Too funny.
Lmao!!!
Man, it's like OkCupid over there!
What? Do they have a factory somewhere that cranks out fake Apple stores?
Are there fake rumor sites that publish info about when the next fake Apple product will be released or where the next fake Apple store will open?
And are there posters on those fake rumor sites whining and complaining about why they will never buy another fake Apple product because the fake Steve Jobs did not announce all the features in the new fake product that they wanted?
Maybe there are fake Android fanboys who troll the fake Apple rumor sites?
Maybe there are an infinite number of fake Apple stores in fake parallel universes that could theoretically exist?
It is all too overwhelming.