Apple was “too slow” to act against rife counterfeiting in China and the Asia market, according to the latest release of Wikileaks cables, seen by “CNN” (http://edition.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/08/29/apple.wikileaks/index.html).
Apple eventually organized a team in March 2008 to deal with the increasing problem of knockoff iPods and iPhones, according to an electronic memo from the Beijing embassy dated September 2008. Yet, three years after Apple moved to crack down on widespread counterfeiting and put pressure on China, progress has been slow.
Gadget piracy isn’t a high priority for the Chinese government, the U.S. reports and experts tell “CNN.” China’s government declined to investigate a facility in March 2009 that was manufacturing imitation Apple laptops because it threatened local jobs, according to a “Wikileaks” cable dated April 2009. A different arm of China’s government scrapped plans for a raid on an electronics mall in the Guangdong province because it could have driven away shoppers, the cable says.