The news of the unfortunate death of Steve Jobs has pretty much taken over the web today and with good reason. Jobs was a true genius and innovator that changed the way we interact with technology.

Those of us in the anti-counterfeiting/brand protection industry know that Apple might have the highest counterfeiting rate of any technology brand. If imitation is the highest form of flattery, we can safely say that Jobs is "the apple of the eye" of some pretty savvy counterfeiters.

Apple did not become a market leader by creating superior technology (but it certain did). Apple became a market leader by creating experiences that made using their products fun. Counterfeiters in China capitalized on this by designing and building knock-off Apple Stores, a big part of the Apple experience. One source claimed that the products sold by the knock-off Apple Stores were real Apple products and just the store was counterfeit. This means someone thought there was a lot of money just in the Apple Store experience, and there probably was.

When you say the word "counterfeit" to someone outside the anti-counterfeiting/brand protection industry they usually think of handbags, banknotes and sometimes pharmaceuticals. But the iBrand and all the products in it have possibly put something else in this category.

 
RIP Steve Jobs.