Why China's Fake Apple Stores are Shutting Down

At 22, Cheung is already a veteran of China's imitation game. A month ago, she was peddling the latest iPhones and accessories in one of several copycat Apple Inc stores along a street of gadget outlets in the southern city of Shenzhen.

She still works at the same store but the counterfeit Apple uniform has gone, and the handsets she now touts are made by local Chinese firm Huawei.

The number of fake Apple stores along the busy street has dwindled by about a third from more than 30 as recently as September when Reuters reporters last visited the area, some replaced by unauthorised stores selling locally-branded phones from Huawei, Xiaomi, Meizu and Oppo.

While China remains a crucial growth driver for Apple, the anecdotal evidence from Shenzhen illustrates the economic headwinds the US firm faces in a market that CEO Tim Cook has said will one day be its biggest.

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/why-chinas-fake-apple-stores-are-shutting-down-795130

 

Since China is the country with the largest population on earth and China's economy is one of the fastest growing economy, demand for US brand is growing. Some Chinese firms are cashing onto this. They are producing fake products. Interesting, Chinese fake products are not just for local market but also are exported to other countries.

 

Are Apple products not currently manufactured in China? Why do they need to bootleg things? You think they would have far more than enough to go around.

 

It is demand and supply law I suppose! As long as there are people who are willing to pay for Apple products, there will be all kind of imitation! It is very hard to tell which is genuine anymore, especially if we tend to order things online more and more!

I just ordered whatsocalled Apple EarPods for my son from Amazon and the description said that it is genuine Apple product. Well, it is not! It was an imitation that looked exactly like Apple product.

Like @PinPongCall said, I also thought that Apple products, or some of them, made in China already.