China Now Has Fake Apple Stores
Source: Leslie Horn

In China, you can buy a knock-off Gucci wallet, you can cop a pair of counterfeit Air Jordans, and now you can even visit a fake Apple Store.

Located in the south-central Chinese city of Kunming, the faux shop might as well be a movie set; it looks convincing, going by the photos originally posted on the blog of an ex-pat living in the city, uncovered by ifoAppleStore. However, the employees, outfitted with Apple name tags and blue t-shirts with Apple logos, aren't in on the ruse. They actually believe they're working for Apple.

In fact, when two employees and three plainclothes security guards asked the blogger to stop taking photos of the store, she said she was an American Apple employee visiting China to take a look at Apple Stores in the country and they let her continue to snap pictures.

The photos show that store includes such details typical to Apple's retail locations as acrylic information panels, long wooden display tables, and a winding staircase leading to the second level. The iPads, iPhones, MacBooks, and other Apple products look real, too.

The fake store isn't one-of-a-kind, either. The blogger said she discovered two more Apple Store dopplegangers in the city of 6.8 million people, including one with a sign labeled, "Apple Stoer." Such gaffes aren't uncommon in the knock-off market in China―you can see more examples, including an "iPhone 5G," in PCMag's slideshow of the Shenzhen electronics markets below.

Whoever is behind the store is capitalizing on a growing trend in China. Apple products have been hot in China and they're only getting hotter. The first Apple Store opened in Beijing in July 2008, just before the summer Olympics kicked off in the capital city. Since then, Apple has added three more stores in China; one in Beijing and two in Shanghai. It's rumored Apple will open an additional 20 stores in the country in 2011. While Apple hasn't confirmed that number, it's clear the company will continue to push China.

But why China? Chinese Apple Stores are some of the busiest in Apple's international retail fleet. They see on average the highest volume of foot traffic, averaging about 40,000 visitors each day, found times more than the daily traffic seen by U.S. stores. They also do the most business. In its Q2 earnings call this spring, Apple said that quarterly revenue from China had quadrupled, soaring to $2.6 billion, or about 10 percent of Apple's revenue.

Apple wouldn't comment on the fake store, and there's no indication if it will―or even can―shut the operation down.