The "fake" Apple Stores news is being reported in the English publication of China Daily today. It's titled "Mysterious Apple stores".

www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/22/content_12956061.htm

Guys this is all over the world now. Kunming the provincial capital of Yunnan in REMOTE Southwest China is famous again.

Its almost as good as the time in 2008 during the Olympics in Beijing when Yunnan customs seized hundreds bibles at the airport that a group was trying to bring into China. Probably because the group did not pay the taxes to import "books".

On the plus side, these fake Apple stores did at least follow the new Kunming ordnance to have English signage.

Lastly, does anyone remember when an apple was just something you ate?

"According to Apple's website, the company has four official retail locations in China, two in Beijing and two in Shanghai"

I am sure there is a REAL apple store in Kunming. I swear I was in one in the flash new mall in town... the one with the New Zealand ice cream shop! Anyone else know the one I am talking about? It has pride of place as you walk into the malls ground floor level. When I was in it they were selling iPhones, iPads, Mac book pro/air/normal, the all in one PC's etc etc etc. I am pretty sure they were legit.

Although Apple is a pretty good company for marketing and advertising, it may be their website isn't up to date yet.

@blobbles
that store's labelled as Xinyi - and while it's somewhat "Appley" in feel, it's far from trying to pass itself off as something it's not.

this whole story only really concludes like this: the whole world is obsessed with fluff, and moreover has no idea what China is like. birdabroad tapped into this and had her 15 minutes. congrats.

my fave moment was the photo of a store assistant flippin' the bird to a Chinese media photographer through the store window :)

If you look at the Apple site then you can see that Xinya is Apples "better" re-seller in Kunming, but there are about 13 in total.

I thought the pic of the guy giving the photographer the bird was great.

Did I say world wide publicity. I just saw a copy of the Ventura County California STAR newspaper Sunday July 24 business section. A fairly small circulation newspaper.

A two page story titled,
iFraud: Apple stores being faked in China Unauthorized sellers redefine the word 'piracy'
BirdAbroad is now world famous.
This story appears to be mostly copied from the China Daily article.

Laughingstock or Admiration?

I think a question could be asked here: Is China being laughed at because just about everything, including entire Apple Stores and products are knocked off, faked, and sold in China and around the world?

Or: Do people around the world admire China for the savvy and skill to do such a good job with their abilities to fake and copy?

The surprising thing about this recent story is that everyone, including news agencies in every country, are picking up on the story. I'm not surprised. I know this store and have always thought it was fake. I never questioned that it was a real Apple franchise selling real Apple goods. I do know there are licensed dealers to serve and repair Apple computers as my American friend had to use one and present his warranty and registration for his Mac.

But hey, if you're a musician and have bought a Fender amp in Kunming, you know it's fake. They won't give you a real guarantee. If it breaks down, like mine did, like my friend's did, hey, they just give you another one. They don't send it "back to the Fender factory" for repair.

My guitar, an Epiphone which I bought in Guangzhou for a lot of money in a reputable music store, couldn't, wouldn't, supply me with a guarantee. They asked for my email address and said they'd send it to me. After many emails to them and without receiving any replies, I gave up. It's probably fake. But it's a great guitar!

Point is, we're not talking about t-shirts with misspellings bought on the street proclaiming to be some hot shot international band — which we obviously know are fake. We're talking about walking into regular stores which sell known brands of equipment and electronic devices, like Apple phones and computers, and we're sold fake products. No one bats an eye. Why?

Well, perhaps the products aren't perfect — but maybe they are "good enough" - for the price one pays. And are they really that inferior to "the real thing"?

Since these alleged 'fake' Apple Stores are all over China (and elsewhere in the world) and unless there is a factory (in China) dedicated in making copies of Apple products, it is conceivable Apple Inc. may have made "secret" deals around the world authorizing the operation of retail outlet for Apple products without getting involved in the nuts & bolts of running the operations. There are many legitimate (& well known) retailers in HK setting up mini "Apple displays" with all the "Apple details" within their own retail space. It's perhaps a question of scale. To date, while the world media and netizens are having a field day with the "discovery", but I wonder why Apple Inc. is suspiciously silent.

@tahoe I don't believe anyone is treating China as a laughing stock but perhaps some are laughing at the sheer audacity of the fakery. I doubt there is much admiration since no one respects a cheat.

At stake is the respect for internationally recognised norms that countries sign up to, for example Intellectual Property (IP) and copyright.

China will probably benefit greatly from these agreed conventions in the future but if they contribute to their demise then such benefits afforded by these conventions will be lost and China will be a loser along with everyone else.

@aiyaryarr: I too have thought Apple has been turning a blind eye to this. They're selling their products without all the hassle of setting up a retail chain themselves.

ALERT ** ALERT ** ALERT

FAKE SONY STORE!

Saw a fake SONY store on Yuan Tong Bei Lu. Large SONY sign can be clearly seen. It is a close copy of the real SONY signage. They are selling SONY cameras that appear to be the real thing.

I asked the salesperson, who was NOT wearing an Apple T-shirt, if this store was an actual SONY store. He emphatically replied, "听不懂" and gave me the bird.

Tomorrow, I will report on a suspected fake Nokia store.

Really, this could get stranger and stranger. The "fake Apple Store" at the Fortune Center is closed, it is less than 30 sqm. I agree with nnoble, this is the way techie stuff is sold. When you have hot gadgets, cutely named iSomething, the more retail outlets the better.