Looking at the complaint further, Apple’s concerns relate to products sold via Amazon’s “fulfilment” scheme only. This is for products that are not directly sold by Amazon, but to individuals and small companies who, as ‘third parties’, advertise goods on Amazon’s site. Despite the goods not being an Amazon direct sell, these third party companies hold their inventory in Amazon’s warehouses and use Amazon’s distribution network to make deliveries.
A report by Yahoo Finance contends that Apple products labeled as genuine on Amazon.com, sold through third parties, are fake in just under 90 percent of instances. To test the situation, Apple used its own employees to purchase over 100 iPhone devices, own-brand power adapters and charging cables and then to inspect them on receipt to see if they were genuine.
According to The Verge, Apple has raised the issue that many of these apparent fakes are potentially life-threatening (for example, they may not be electrically safe and could catch fire). Chargers are noted by the company as being a particular risk. One lawsuit against a company has already begun, the text of which has been posted online by the blog Patently Apple.
While Apple has expressed concern with Amazon it is directing its actions directly towards the vendors who are selling the allegedly fake merchandise. In response, Amazon told the BBC it has taken Apple’s claims seriously, with a spokesperson stating: “Amazon has zero tolerance for the sale of counterfeits on our site. We work closely with manufacturers and brands and pursue wrongdoers aggressively.”
