ChinaForbiddenNews on Jul 23, 2011
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Netizens recently revealed the existence of a copycat
Apple store in Yunnan Province—which has aroused
a lot of attention from domestic and foreign media.
When our reporters contacted these copycat outlets,
they all claimed to be authentic Apple Inc. stores,
even though Apple's official China website lists
just two locations, Beijing and Shanghai.
The photos uploaded by a bloger, BirdAbroad, showed that,
these fake Apple stores provide authentic Apple Inc. products
and all the salespersons are wearing badges
and blue T-shirts with Apple logos on them.
The stores are spacious and bright like authentic Apple stores.
Surprisingly, these salespersons in these fake stores believe that
they are actually working for Apple Inc.!
Sina Tech reported that these fake Apple stores have
wooden or gray stoned floors in different product areas.
Their products range from iPads to Mac computers, and even
their tables look like the ones used in official Apple stores.
These fake stores even have the same spiral stairs,
children's game areas,
and product introduction areas as
those in the real Apple stores.
Customers are told not to take pictures in the stores,
perhaps the owners know that these stores are illegal.
Our reporters found these so-called
Apple Exclusive Stores online via soso.com.
Two of them claim to be listed on Apple's official website, even
though the website only lists the Beijing and Shanghai locations.
A store in Xiechuangfengze West Digital Plaza:
(Is this an Apple Exclusive Store?) "Yes. Who is this?"
(Are you authentic?) "Of course." (Do you have official
authorization from the U.S.?) "Yes, but we won't show you."
(Why not?) "We'd be so tired if we showed every customer
our authorization. It's just not necessary.
You can find our address on Apple's official website."
A store in South Source West Digital Plaza: (Is this an Apple
Exclusive Store?) "Yes, it is." (Are you authentic?) "Yes, you
can check on Apple's official website." (Do you have official
authorization from the U.S.?) "No, only from China.
Stores in the U.S. get authorization from the U.S. while stores
in China get authorization from China."
A Beijing lawyer, Xie Yanyi, said that faking Apple Exclusive
Stores is illegal and an infringement of Apple's rights.
Xie Yanyi said: "Phenomena like this is very prevalent
in China, not only with regards to Apple Inc.,
but with other counterfeit commodities, too. This is
an infringement of Apple's intellectual property rights.
The fake Apple stores may have local officials protecting
them to exist, like in Kunming City, considering
the huge cost and risk involved in operating such stores."
Beijing lawyer, Yang Huiwen, said that,
such counterfeit are very common in all fields in China,
with fake food being the most serious problem.
According to Voice of America, a local in Kunming City
revealed that there are now 3 to 4 fake Apple stores in that
area, which opened up in the first half of this year and are
located on Wucheng Rd., Zhengyi Rd., and Xiaoximen Rd.
This person said that each store is very large
and they sell every Apple product, including the iPhone.
A single store will have a dozen iPhones models on display.
Apple's chief operations officer, Timothy D. Cook,
said that the market in China was
a major driving force behind last season's profit.
To maintain an image as a high-end and specialty product,
Apple Inc. only opened a total of four stores in China,
Currently, Apple Inc. has not commented on the fake stores,
nor have they taken any legal action yet.
NTD reporters Qin Xue and Wang Mingyu
《神韵》2011世界巡演新亮点
http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/
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