Amazon does it again: 90% of Apple chargers and cables declared fake by Apple
With Amazon still dealing with a lawsuit from three Seattle-based Amazon Flex delivery drivers, who have applied for class action status in regard to their employment, the online retailer seems to find itself at the center of recurrent trouble.
A recent investigation conducted by Apple, has identified as much as 90% of Apple accessories sold by Amazon, as fake, untested, and potentially hazardous to consumers.
What makes matters worse is that the accessories in question do not belong to third party Marketplace sellers, or private sellers, but are actual products, directly sold by Amazon. Fortunately for Amazon, Apple is not likely to go after the retailer, but rather the supplier of the products, New Jersey-based MobileStar LLC.
In the wake of Apple’s lawsuit, which includes trademark infringement, Mobile Star LLC was quick to scrub any mention of Apple products and accessories from its website, as well as any mention of Amazon.
It’s unclear at this stage whether Amazon is also looking to file a complaint against MobileStar LLC, but it seems extremely likely, as Amazon’s reputation is about to take a major hit from consumer backlash in the wake of Apple’s official statement on the matter:
“...Over the last nine months, Apple, as part of its ongoing brand protection efforts, has purchased well over 100 iPhone devices, Apple power products, and Lightning cables sold as genuine by sellers on Amazon.com and delivered through Amazon’s “Fulfillment by Amazon” program. Apple’s internal examination and testing for these products revealed almost 90% of these products are counterfeit...”
The injunction sought by Apple against MobileStar LLC will require the supplier to destroy all counterfeit accessories, and pay damages to Apple, to the tune of two million dollars for each single product type, including Lightning cables, USB Type-C cables, charging cables, charging docks and adapters, for iPad Air, iPad Pro, MacBook, iPhone, and any other product that does not conform to Apple’s requirement.
What’s especially troubling about this story is that a quick visit to MobileStar LLC’s official website should have provided Amazon ample warning about the credibility of this supplier. Aside from a number of scattered business profiles, the official website is devoid of actual information, aside from the company’s contact information and mailing address. The About page of the company is also blank, and while the “Supported partners” section boast a number of companies like Beats and Samsung, among others, there is no product pages, or other information suggesting endorsement of this supplier by these manufacturers, prior to the time of this writing.
This information puts Amazon’s protocols into serious question, in regard to verifying the credibility and reliability of its direct suppliers, and especially in regard to potential liability, should any of these products malfunction catastrophically, in a way similar to what happened to a Florida-based MacBook owner who saw his MacBook explode after replacing its battery with a third-party product purchased from Battery Plus last September.
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