Spread of fake Apple Retail Stores in China is so big that the market may already be getting saturated

The case is not now. Still in 2011, authorities found 22 more fake Apple Retail Stores in China, and then it got to New York. But with Apple's growing popularity in the country, this is getting even more serious.

According to a report by Reuters, there are already so many fake Apple Retail Stores in China that merchants are beginning to observe a certain saturation in the market. One of them even gave an advice to anyone with plans to open one: "Open a fake Huawei store, more games."

The thing is so absurd that, not far from the fake Apple Retail Stores proper, there are stores that sell everything to anyone who wants to open one of these: logos, uniforms, bags and so on.

Fake iPhonesBoth iPhones in the photo above are counterfeit

Evidently, a good part of the profit of these fake stores occurs in moments like the one of now, of launching new iPhones. The demand for them is so great in China that even in these unauthorized places there is a queue and reservation of devices, yes, from the officers (there are fake stores selling official products and fake stores selling fake products, that is, a mess).

Obviously, Apple is not the only one affected by this lack of control in China. She and other companies have been lobbying and discussing possible measures the local government can take to curb the black market.

Apple now has 22 official stores in China, but plans to bring that number to 40 by the end of next year.

(via The Loop)