Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
We all need a mini stove for the hot pot meals. They’re handy, but not as handy as having one made by iPhone. Imagine, texting, Instagram, checking email, and Words with Friends. Only 600+ of these were recovered. To have a print job like this, there must be thousands running around in China. (micgadget – iPhone Stove)
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On July 20th, we reported the story of a foreign blogger in China who discovered a fake Apple store in Kunming, China. A week later, we brought you the breaking story that there were, in fact, five fake Apple retail spaces in Kunming. Now, several weeks later, it turns out that there were not five Apple stores in Kunming, but twenty-seven. Yes, a two followed by a seven. Okay, we know Apple makes great technology and its portable consumer products, like the iPad2, are really hot right now. But this is quite literally ridiculous. For one thing, it shows a serious lack of originality, which has actually never been much of a concern in China’s shanzhai (fake goods) trade. China’s Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC) has, of course, ordered all the stores to stop using Apple’s logo and its variants. This was after Apple China complained to the government yesterday, August 11th, about copyright and trademark infringement. Unfortunately, news reports cannot say at this time whether the fake Apple stores have been selling counterfeit Apple products, or legitimate products which have been smuggled into the country. The AIC has guaranteed that it will increase its vigilance in monitoring illegal Apple stores, and set up a complaint hotline to address the problem. In the meantime, still no word on whether Steve Jobs is putting on his angry face and hopping a plane to China. (Reuters – 27 Fake Apples in Kunming)
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The Chinese term “Shanzhai” literally means “mountain village” or “mountain stronghold”. But in modern Chinese, usage of the term is derived from a way in Cantonese slang to describe products of inferior quality or, more commonly, products which are imitation or fake. Now, it is well-known that China has unfortunately been a major global source of intellectual property rights violations for decades. In recent weeks, for example, we have reported the stories of the fake Apple and Ikea stores in Kunming in China’s southern Yunnan Province. And these are great examples of how imitation products and retail fakery in China have entered a new dimension of pervasiveness and boldness. At the link, you’ll read an analysis by a Chinese blogger who intends to conduct a research project on the Shanzhai phenomenon in China. After reading the text and looking at the accompanying images, you’ll be struck by, or reminded of, how much fakery occurs in China, and how some of the most famous brands and icons have been tweaked. Another aspect of the Shanzhai phenomenon touched upon in this blogger’s post is the concern and interest China’s fake product and design activity is causing within the global advertising, design and art communities. And frankly, we don’t blame them for being worried. (The Creators Project – Shanzhai Fakery in China)
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In China, a country unfortunately famous for producing cheap wares and pirated or knock-off products, there is currently a huge furor directed at one high-end furniture store chain which has recently been accused of selling counterfeit copies of pricey European designer furnishings. The chain is called DaVinci, and it was founded inSingapore even though most of its shops are in China. DaVinci caters to wealthy people, the kind who can afford, say, $100 thousand for a bedroom set sporting names like Versace or Fendi Casa. And as the designer names suggest, much of the extravagance DaVinci sells is supposed to be made in Italy. But it recently turned out that some of it is not. It’s a huge scandal which uncovered, amongst other things: that designer cattle-hide sofas were actually made in a factory in Zhejiang Province; and that Chinese-made products were being routed through Shanghai’s Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in order to legally change their status to foreign imported products. The wealthy Chinese folks who make up the bulk of DaVinci’s China customers are not happy about this, and have already started demanding refunds for the costly purchases they have had evaluated and found to be fake. The situation is ironic, to be sure. But keep in mind that wherever one goes in the world somebody is always trying to rip off the wealthy. (New York Times — Chinese Fake Furniture)
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