China shuts down fake Apple stores

CHINESE AUTHORITIES have shut down a number of elaborate fake Apple stores in the glorious Peoples Republic.

Five fake stores were found in a single city, Kunming, in an investigation following a blog entry by an American woman living the city.

On the Birdabroad blog she revealed that there was a fake store in the city, which she labeled a "beautiful ripoff - a brilliant one - the best ripoff store we had ever seen".

The stores allegedly copied the real deal to the letter, making for a convincing fake. In fact, the con was so elaborate that many of the staff in these stores believed they were really working for Apple.

The initial clue that these were not real was the fact that they use "Apple Store" as a sign outside, instead of the fruit logo the company normally uses. On closer inspection inside the building, construction was poor, with even the walls not having been properly painted.

The stores sell what appear to be Apple products, but they are likely to also be fakes. The black market for Iphone and Ipad ripoffs is particularly big in China. However, the store exposed by Birdabroad was selling genuine Apple products, which makes us wonder how it got its hands on them in the first place.

Two of the fake stores have since been closed, according to the BBC, since the owners lacked a business licence. It's not clear if the authorities can, at this time, close the others for infringing Apple's trademarks, but it's likely that Apple will set its legal hounds on them soon.

The blogger has since received word of fake Apple stores across the world, including in Burma, Croatia, other parts of China, and even good old New York, where the shop has the name "Apple Story".

There are only two official Apple stores in China, one in Beijing and the other in Shanghai, but there are almost certainly many other fakes out there, convincing customers that Apple has an expansive Chinese empire. µ