I have heard this news for a few days, and decided to check it out… I don’t know what comes to your mind when you hear “fake Apple Store,” but they are very convincing. Even the employees think they’re working at a real Apple Store.
It strikes me as odd that the fake Apple Store has access to Apple products. Is it possible that Apple’s really behind these stores but doesn’t want to make them “official” for some reason? Also weird is that Apple didn’t comment on the NYT article. They’re a pretty litigious bunch… I’d think they’d be all over this.
It looks like the fake Apple stores are buying merchandise from real Apple stores and re-selling it (at a higher price, I’d assume). Apple still gets paid for the merchandise and establishes brand presence in China, without the stigma of officially setting up shop in China. As long as the fake Apple employees provide decent customer service, it’s a win for everyone.
Just wait until they start bringing in strippers for promotional days, and that hits Youtube . . .
ETA: Only a slight exaggeration. A company that’s as tightfisted about their branding as Apple can’t be happy about this, whether they’re indirectly getting money or not.
Some people still boycott Chinese products/companies for social or political reasons. I don’t, and I meant no offense, but I’ve seen enough flyers and bumper stickers to know that there is some public sentiment against doing business in China.
I didn’t realize Apple already had official outlets in China.
The OP’s NYT article links to this article. I’d buy your bridge if I knew I could sell it for twice what I paid for it, but I’m not standing in line overnight for the privilege!
China copies a lot of things, such as this disputed area they share with India, an apparent copy of a Taiwanese air base, and that Austrian town they are planning to copy
No offense taken – I was just surprised insofar that Apple already buys nearly all of its parts from China, so I’m not sure why anybody would be up in arms that it’d turn around and sell the same stuff to China.
IANAL, but there is a concept called trade dress under which copying the appearance of a store might be actionable. Here is a Wikipedia article about a suit between two restaurant chains.
Would that law even apply internationally? I don’t know what Apple could do. They’d have to sue on Chinese soil and something tells me that wouldn’t go over very well. China would just stop manufacturing Apple components and stop letting them sell anything in China at all.
I have no idea whether it (BTW, it’s not really a law but a legal concept) applies internationally, but I was replying to Koxinga, who asked what would happen if a US store copied IKEA’s layout.
I appreciate that reply. As for the concept of trade dress, it looks like even in the US it’s been evolving relatively recently, in view of the 1987 case of Two Pesos, Inc. vs. Taco Cabana, Inc. cited in Wikipedia. So I’d wonder if there could be any reasonable expectation of this protection in Asia.
I do know that in any successful restaurant chain or theme store in Taiwan, there are prominent signs forbidding cameras–so that competitors can’t come in too boldly to get “ideas” for their own stores. Word to the wise!