Huge Counterfeit iPhone Maker Shut Down in China

A Beijing business making counterfeit iPhones failed to follow one of Mac Geek Gab's tenets: Don't get caught. The business produced over 41,000 knock-off iPhones before police raided their factory and shut them down.

Chinese police shut down huge counterfeit iPhone operationChinese police shut down huge counterfeit iPhone operation

Considering the iPhone's popularity, it isn't any surprise the company, run by a husband and wife team, were making knock-offs. They were making enough fake iPhones to bring in about US$19 million a year.

Beijing police arrested nine people and seized 1,400 phones when they shut down the business, according to Reuters. They said the factory was posing as a tech gadget maintenance shop. Hundreds of workers had been hired to build and package the phones who are now looking for jobs, although they weren't charged with any crimes.

Knock-off iPhones may be popular, but they aren't the only counterfeits on the market. Samsung's Galaxy smartphone line, for example, is popular on the counterfeit market, too. In essence, if a smartphone is popular with the public, there's probably several counterfeit device builders making a profit, too.

Some of the fake iPhone from the now closed factory made their way to the United States, although they weren't being sold in main stream stores. Instead, they most likely made their way to counterfeit resellers and the small shops buying products from them.

China has been ramping up its enforcement of intellectual property rights and trademarks, making it at least a little more difficult for companies to make knock off iPhones. Considering the long history in the country for ignoring patent and trademark rights,