New From Apple! The iStove!

Posted on Feb 29th 2012

A Chinese company likes the iPhone so much that they named a stove after the Apple brand.

This is the latest of many Chinese companies to sell fake Apple products, but perhaps the first documented pseudo-Apple home appliance. Apparently, the company sold portable gas stoves engraved with the Apple logo and “iphone” brand name. The misuse of Apple’s brand was discovered only after the single burner stoves were deemed unsafe and seized by Chinese police in Wuhan, according to the Chinese tech website M.I.C. Gadget.

Police found 681 stoves sporting Apple’s logo and brand in two warehouses. The stoves had the half eaten apple graphic and “iphone” printed in white on a green background just below the burner. Also, the fake Apple stove was labeled “Apple China Limited.”

Several Chinese companies have been known for illegally using Apple’s brand names to profit. In 2011, 25 fake Chinese Apple stores — that looked nearly identical to real Apple stores — were shutdown. An American living in China discovered the stores and blogged about visiting a couple of them.

This year, Shenzhen Proview Technology company in China claimed ownership of the name “iPad” and ordered the removal of Apple iPads from Northern China stores. Apple could face a $38 million fine in China for using the name “iPad.”

Source: Mashable.com

They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, or I guess when you are hot (Apple) you are hot (stove).