As a retailer Apple appears to be second to no one, but since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery is it any wonder that a blogger visiting China recently discovered more than one counterfeit “Apple Store” selling Apple products and employees of the counterfeit “Apple Store” even believed they work for Apple! It is not clear exactly what Apple will do about this blatant trademark infringement. Actually the four real Apple outlets in Beijing and Shanghai are now the four most heavily trafficked Apple stores in the world and also generate the most revenue, outselling even the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan (New York) open 24 hours a day.
Apple products are unbelievably popular in China as reported by the NY Times. In the last quarter alone Apple had revenue of $3.8 billion in revenue in China and:
For the first three quarters of Apple’s fiscal year, revenue in greater China was $8.8 billion — six times that of a year earlier. Last quarter, Apple may have even generated more revenue in China than Lenovo — the Chinese PC maker that seven years ago acquired I.B.M.’s personal computer business, according to a survey by Bloomberg News.
It may be better for Apple to allow the counterfeit Apple Store to operate to sell more Apple product and worry about the trademark infringement by some licensing agreement rather than trying shut down these counterfeit "Apple Stores."