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Chinese Counterfeit Lightning Cables Confiscated in Alaska

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Apr 12, 2001
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More than $600,000 worth of counterfeit Lighting cables were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at a routine customs search in Anchorage, Alaska (via 9to5Mac). The cables had arrived from China via plane and were designed to look like Apple's $19 Lightning to USB cables, complete with fake Apple logos and UL icons.

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But the knock-off logos weren't enough of a disguise. The items stood out as counterfeits, Frank Falcon, CBP spokesman said. They were packaged for retail sale in cardboard blister packs that were sub-standard compared to Apple's trademark white packaging.

Falcon said a manufacturer in China is responsible for the shipment. He noted that while it is "difficult to deal with a manufacturer in another country," the bust will "bring more scrutiny" to future shipments from the company.

This is a large bust for such products. As one can imagine, over $600,000 in cables and adaptors means there was "quite a bit of stuff" seized, Falcon said.
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Apple products are frequently counterfeited, and even Apple's retail stores are sometimes knocked off.

Article Link: Chinese Counterfeit Lightning Cables Confiscated in Alaska
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/04/chinese-counterfeit-lightning-cables-confiscated-in-alaska/
Good.

It amazes me that there are companies in China that have factories dedicated to counterfeiting. Use those resources to make some legit products!
 
The worse thing is they probably don't work right. There are £4 iPhone adaptors but all they do is charge the phone, nothing else works.
 
String said:
The worse thing is they probably don't work right. There are £4 iPhone adaptors but all they do is charge the phone, nothing else works.
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well thats because the parts inside the real cables cost way more than £4

...half of them existing just so the cable has to be expensive!
 
The fact these guys can beat apple for price by so much proves apple deserve to be counterfeited

GITSUM!
 
I bought a counterfeit cable in the Dominican Republic for about $US25 dollars. The first sign I had something was wrong was when I plugged it in, there was a bit of resistance. Then when i pulled it out, the sheath over the connector came out. Nevertheless I was able to charge my phone and when I got back to the US, the original cable worked fine.
 
deannnnn said:
Good.

It amazes me that there are companies in China that have factories dedicated to counterfeiting. Use those resources to make some legit products!
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1st shift makes legitimate products. 2nd shift makes the counterfeit products.
:)
 
Ironduke said:
The fact these guys can beat apple for price by so much proves apple deserve to be counterfeited

GITSUM!
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These counterfeits aren't exact copies. They generally are much cheaper quality and fall apart quickly. Many of them will fit in either way but only charge with the adaptor pointed in 1 way unlike the real Apple cables.

Also, I have yet to see a single 3rd party cable (other than Apple authorized ones) that will do video. All of them so far will only charge and do sync (many only charge and don't even sync).

On top of that it's obvious that you don't understand the costs of development and other things that go into creating a product.
 
CocoaPuffs said:
Does this mean my $5 OEM cable from eBay ain't coming anymore?
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It wasn't OEM if it was only $5. The auction likely claimed OEM-like. If it was true OEM, it'd be coming from Apple and these counterfeits wouldn't worry you (and you wouldn't get them for $5 unless the seller was an idiot).
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
It wasn't OEM if it was only $5. The auction likely claimed OEM-like. If it was true OEM, it'd be coming from Apple and these counterfeits wouldn't worry you (and you wouldn't get them for $5 unless the seller was an idiot).
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In common parlance I think OEM means fake :(
 
I bought one from Play.com - £2.99. Looks identical to the official one, even the build quality was the same. Works fine for both syncing and charging. Doesnt have any noticable slowdowns, etc. It did state that it cant do audio but thats not something I'd ever use it for anyway.

I refuse to pay £15 for a cable that could have just as easily been a microusb cable.
 
China makes a power play on Lamps Plus?

More than $600,000 worth of counterfeit Lighting cables were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at a routine customs search in Anchorage, Alaska (via 9to5Mac).

Am I the only one that noticed that the story said Lighting not Lightning. So, is this story really about cheap Ikea furniture?

:)
 
timhuerta said:
.....So, is this story really about cheap Ikea furniture?:)
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Is even that made in China nowadays? LOL

jessica. said:
.....By putting the Apple logo on it I think these cables were coined to essentially fool consumers. I don't mind no-name cables (monoprice) at all but deliberately trying to fool consumers with cables sporting the Apple logo is wrong.
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Yes, and sadly the confiscation of one shipment won't stop or discourage these factories in any way, shape or form. If anything , they'll learn from this, and get better at counterfeiting for the inevitable 'next' shipment.
 
I once made the mistake of buying cheap 3” 30-pin cables. They quickly fell apart. I'm actually surprised they didn't first catch fire. I wish I could get a good 3” Lightning cable to keep in my MacBook bag. Anyone know of some?
 
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