2,000 OnePlus Buds Were Seized, Thought To Be Fake Apple AirPods

Dhir Acharya - Sep 16, 2020

A few days ago, the US Custom and Border Protection seized 2,000 counterfeit AirPods on August 31, saying that the load was sent from Hong Kong.

A few days ago, the US Custom and Border Protection proudly announced that it seized 2,000 counterfeit AirPods on August 31, saying that the load was sent from Hong Kong to the JFK Airport in New York.

According to the press release of the CBP, if the counterfeit AirPods were sold at the price of authentic products, they would be worth a total of $398,000, or Rs 2.92 crore.

However, it turns out that the CBP miscalculated the worth of this merchandise because these are not counterfeit AirPods. In fact, they are OnePlus Buds and their total worth is $158,000, or Rs 1.16 crore. The reason why we know their origin is that along with the press release and tweet, the CBP posted a photo from which we can see the brand name with the product name “OnePlus Buds” on the packaging.

The Chinese brand announced its wireless earphones OnePlus Buds in June at a price of $79 (Rs 5,816) alongside the OnePlus Nord smartphone. Like other brands from China, OnePlus was previously accused of cloning iPhone phones. However, the new OnePlus 8 Pro saved it from these allegations.

The funny thing is OnePlus USA replied to CBP’s tweet, writing “Hey, give those back!” Then, on Monday, the US branch of the company tweeted a photo to mention the incident with the caption “Seize the day. Seize the music.”

But, for the record, the OnePlus Buds do look like the Apple AirPods. And it’s not the only firm to release AirPods-like wireless earbuds, the Google Buds and Samsung Galaxy Buds have similar designs as well.

In defense, a CBP director said:

“CBP Officers are protecting the American public from various dangers on a daily basis. The interception of these counterfeit earbuds is a direct reflection of the vigilance and commitment to mission success by our CBP Officers daily.”