I have shared photos of various "fake" Apple stores in Hengyang, Chenzhou, and Guangzhou in China. Most recently I shared photos of an Android store and several Nokia stores in Nanping, Zhuhai. Although I did not see any stores in Nanping appearing to identify themselves as Apple stores, I did see these two stores in another part of Zhuhai -- Gongbei:
Neither appears on Apple's list of authorized stores and both have characteristics of other unauthorized stores I have seen. I would share photos of other similar Apple stores in the area, but I feel the point has already been made. I share these photos simply to emphasize that such stores are not at all atypical in many parts of China.
However Apple may be reacting to unauthorized stores, it appears that they face a daunting task if they plan to swat down every example. And still more such stores are springing up in China. In fact, the first store seen above is one of the newest.
Neither appears on Apple's list of authorized stores and both have characteristics of other unauthorized stores I have seen. I would share photos of other similar Apple stores in the area, but I feel the point has already been made. I share these photos simply to emphasize that such stores are not at all atypical in many parts of China.
However Apple may be reacting to unauthorized stores, it appears that they face a daunting task if they plan to swat down every example. And still more such stores are springing up in China. In fact, the first store seen above is one of the newest.
How are these fake Apple stores? In order to be fake, they'd have to be presenting themselves as real Apple Stores - are they? Chinese stores use brands in their signs in ways that US stores do not. Whenever I've spoken to someone in a store with such a sign, they've never made any pretense to be in any way affiliated with Apple or whatever brand they have on their sign. They put it there to advertise what they're selling. While that might be an illegal use of a trademark (I'm no expert in Chinese IPR law, so I have no idea), or use of Apple's logo in a way that Apple doesn't approve of, its very different than a store misleadingly presenting itself as a real Apple store.
ReplyDeleteI think you raise an important point. I have addressed it in a new post here: When is a Fake Apple Store Fake?
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