Counterfeiters pre-empt another upcoming Apple launch

The next Apple Watch isn't due to launch until later this year – maybe at the electronics giant next keynote presentation later this month – but knock-offs are already being offered for sale in China.

Specialist website MacRumors says it has already spotted watches on sale that mimic the expected design of the seventh edition of the device, which according to leaked information is expected to have a brand new thinner, flat-edged design and an enhanced, larger display compared to the current version.

There have been suggestions that production troubles could hold back the launch of the genuine Apple Watch 7.

The website shows clones of the Apple Watch Series 7 in space grey, silver, and space black, harvested from a tweet by a user known as Majin Bu.

Apple Watch S7 clone #Apple #AppleWatch pic.twitter.com/K2hjtleoAN

— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) August 27, 2021

The knock-offs almost certainly won't include some of the other much-anticipated features of the new watch – rumoured to include blood pressure monitoring in a major upgrade to its health credentials – and are being sold for around $60.

It is not clear yet who made them, or indeed whether they are being made available yet, but it seems likely that they are being sold to consumers, unsuspecting or otherwise.

"Clones of popular Apple products are commonly made in China, often in the hopes of duping customers into thinking that they are the real thing," says MacRumors.

"The issue is so widespread that Apple has a team whose sole focus is to crack down on counterfeit products and prevent them from being sold."

Apple said in March that its team of brand protection workers requested the removal of more than a million posts on social media networks and e-commerce sites offering counterfeits of its products in the last year.

Earlier this year, the first counterfeits of Apple's AirPods 3 ear buds were also promoted on social media, a product that still hasn't been launched.

Image by fancycrave1 from Pixabay