According to a report by the BBC, fake Apple factory in China was discovered on May 14 but it was revealed by the Beijing’s public security bureau on Sunday.
The Beijing based manufacturer first caught the authorities’ eye after duplicate China made handsets were seized in the US this year in May. Beijing police said that nine suspects have been taken into custody.
For the past many years, various Apple products are being faked in China, ranging from fake iPhones to knockoff stores. In 2011, bloggers in the city of Kunming found more than twelve unauthorized brick and mortar outlets that replicated employee uniforms and the interior decor used in authorized Apple stores.
The case of the Beijing based firm is rare if we consider it with other cases involving fake products because of its scale and overseas reach.
Who led fake Apple factory in China?
According to the Beijing police statement, a 43 year old male suspect surnamed Yu and his 40 year old wife, surnamed Xie used to bring second hand mobile phones from foreign countries and fake parts bearing logos from the southern Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen. The couple is said to be from Shenzhen.
They hired hundreds of workers to assemble the fake Apple products in Beijing and then sold them overseas. According to police, six production lines were hidden in a bonded industrial zone, pretending to be a gadget maintenance company.
According to Beijing police fake Apple factory in China has manufactured and exported more than 41,000 fake iPhones and 66,000 ribbon cables worth $19.4 million.
The blogger BirdAbroad found that the fakes were so convincing that many of the staff members were also convinced that they were hired by the US electronics firm, Apple. Apple officials have declined to comment on fake Apple factory in China, saying that the investigation was still going on.