Fake AirPods Pro Already Announced To Be Available In China Soon

Hours after Apple launched the new wireless earbuds, a Chinese electronics store owner already announced the availability of fake AirPods Pro shipments.

SCMP said that positive feedback from consumers to AirPods Pro will create a big impact on Apple's business, especially in the world's most populous country. Meanwhile, this is also an opportunity for small manufacturers, specializing in making fake products.

A few hours after the launch of AirPods Pro, Ms. Fu, the owner of a store in Huazhong Electronics Market (Shenzhen), announced on WeChat: "We will soon have headphones identical to Apple's AirPods Pro in the next two or three days ".

According to Apple, the new generation of AirPods is equipped with active noise cancellation and an H1 audio chip. The price of AirPods Pro in China is set at up to 1,999 CNY (around Rs. 20,200), higher than the list of 1,588 CNY (around Rs. 16,000) on ​​official distribution channels.

While iPhone sales did not meet Apple's expectations, AirPods rose to become the second best-selling product in its history. In the second quarter of 2019 alone, Bernstein Research estimated that AirPods sales increased by about 70%, contributing $2 billion to Apple's total revenue. There are more than 25 million genuine AirPods users globally. In China, many teenagers use clones of Apple’s Airpods.

According to a Sina Tech survey of more than 70,000 participants, over 60% said that AirPods Pro was too expensive, only 20% were willing to spend money to own the high-end earbuds and the rest decided to stick with the old AirPods.

Fake AirPods are one of the most popular products on the market and electronic stores in Shenzhen. The southern Chinese city is home to tech giants such as Huawei and Tencent and is home to hundreds of manufacturers of counterfeit products. The fake product is then shipped to developing countries, where users often don't want to or can’t afford to spend a lot of money to buy electronics products.

The price of the clones depends on the material and quality. Fake AirPods Pro ranges from 69 CNY (around Rs. 700) to 299 CNY (around Rs. 3,000), which is less than 20 percent of the price of genuine AirPods Pro with a wireless charging box.

Ms. Fu said: "The 299 CNY 'premium' earbuds look exactly like the AirPods, and even accurately simulate the animation on the iPhone display just when connected to the devices."

Surprisingly, many YouTubers praised the fake AirPods Pro. Some say that the 299 CNY AirPods Pro version is not only similar in appearance, but also in good in sound quality.

According to Ms. Fu, the first batch of fake AirPods Pro will be "quite expensive" because manufacturers have to spend the cost of making molds for the new design, but the price will fall quickly when demand in the market stabilizes. "This is a market-oriented product so I couldn't predict the price of fake AirPods Pro right away," Ms. Fu added.