Came across this article about a 'fake' apple store in Kunming.
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Came across this article about a 'fake' apple store in Kunming.
If it's true then I'm impressed and even amused - in a perverse kind of way.
I was hoping to go in there and download Lion OSX from in house servers but I guess Apple is not going to deliver local servers to fake stores. Would like to think the story is untrue but the evidence from a growing number of reliable sources appears to support many of the claims being made.
Just saw the report about the fake Apple store on ABC GMA,
Does any one know where actually the store is in Kunming?
There is a new Apple store in Bei Chen Fortune Center next to cinema - - just down fm KFC.
Have not been in - - don't know diff between real and fake - - but it's there.
The blog that reported the fake Apple store...
kudos to birdabroad - i think she's a user on here too. she must be getting insane traffic - the story's linked all over the place...
From: Yahoo
Blogger discovers trio of perfectly rendered knockoff Apple stores in China
Fake Apple Store in Kunming
Anyone who's spent time shopping in China — or even Chinatown — has likely run into a vast spread of imitation Apple electronics, from almost-iPods to faux iPhones. But on a recent trip back to her home in China, one blogger discovered a much bolder — and much bigger — knockoff: an entire, painstakingly detailed fake Apple Store.
The 27-year-old blogger known as "BirdAbroad" stumbled onto a strange scene near her apartment in Kunming after returning from a few months abroad. Noting that a handful of major retail chains had popped up in her absence, she strolled into what appeared to be an Apple Store just like any other.
Faux Apple Store employee
At first glance, the store boasted all the telltale trappings of the iconic retailer: "It had the classic Apple store winding staircase and weird upstairs sitting area. The employees were even wearing those blue t-shirts with the chunky Apple name tags around their necks."
But a few key details were off. The signs in the window featured Apple's glowing emblem, but also the words "Apple Store," in English. The paint job was shoddy, and spiraling stairs — resembling those in some of Apple's most prominent stores — appeared poorly constructed. For a company renowned for its uncompromising design aesthetic, these little faults were telling.
As if a fully-realized multilevel imitation Apple Store wasn't bizarre enough, the retail workers didn't express that anything was amiss when questioned — they appeared to genuinely believe they were employed by Apple. "I tried to imagine the training that they went to when they were hired, in which they were pitched some big speech about how they were working for this innovative, global company," BirdAbroad writes.
Kunming map
According to Apple's website, the company has four official retail locations in China, two in Beijing and two in Shanghai. Apple has recently ramped up efforts to open its shops around the globe, but these initial stores are only clustered around major urban hubs — they aren't in Kunming, the capitol of the southwest province of Yunnan, and China's 16th most populous city.
After discovering the first faux retailer, the blogger took a 10 minute cruise around the neighborhood only to find two more "Apple" stores, just like the first. "This was a total Apple store ripoff. A beautiful ripoff — a brilliant one — the best ripoff store we had ever seen." For a country awash in replica electronics and near-perfect knock-offs, that's saying a lot.
While it's unclear how (or if) Apple plans to handle China's apparent preponderance of imitation Apple retailers, the company is expanding its global grasp every day and watching profits soar sky-high. According to one Apple Store representative we spoke with, "I guess it's just a matter of getting to the point where people are walking into the right stores." That is, if they can tell the difference.
Could I naively think of it as another computer store selling computers? Well, yes possibly. What exactly is the copyright breach here? They're labeling themselves as an apple store instead of a retailer? Isn't this a similar story to Diccos' and McDonalds/KFC .. If you go to villages big and remote enough, you'd find even weirder ripoffs.
Or maybe the owners are protesting the lack of an Apple store in their beloved KM.
Funny, yes, but far from strange. And surely over bloated by apple fan boys..
@somenick
So that gives people the right to 'take' or 'rip you off'. It's like saying: "Well, since there's no official Apple store, let me make one since the people want it". China is bragging how they are cracking down on violation of IPR and this clearly shows they could care less. It's all for show. What assurances do you have that when you by an 'Apple' computer from one of these fake store front that what's inside the IPAD or IPHONE is really Apple genuine components. I've never bought Apple computers but I could understand how angry and disappointed one would be to go home after buying a product from these stores and find out they've been ripped off. It's about expectation. What you expect from a genuine authorize dealer.
hahaha, these fake stores have made it onto Kunming newspaper and even BBC online news!!
"BirdAbroad" name was mentioned in the BBC article :)
wonder how panic the owner of these fake stores are now...i sincerely hope the real Apple ppl will soon slap them with a fine or a court order.
should be an interesting event to keep an eye on~