iPhone Buyers Find Surprise Inside

Chinese consumers are getting something a little unique when they purchase an iPhone.A stove.According to TechCrunch, Chinese police have seized hundreds of tabletop stoves that feature an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) logo and the word “iPhone” right under the burner. For consumers who were hungry and eager to cook, this might not seem like that bad of a purchase. But for those who were hoping for a genuine Apple-made product, the stove is nothing more than an imitational product that will give American buyers a reason to laugh.This is not the first time that Chinese consumers have been subject to fake Apple products. In addition to being the home of Apple manufacturing, China is also the land of copycats and counterfeit products. These stoves don't fit into either category, but they certainly infringe on Apple's name and logo, and threaten to tarnish the company's image. Few consumers will believe that Apple actually manufactured these cheap stoves (even if the company did, it would never refer to the product as an “iPhone Stove” – it would just call it an iStove, and it would be very high-tech). But there are bound to be a handful of gullible/clueless buyers who just assume that if the Apple logo is slapped onto the front of something, it must be legit.TechCrunch reported that 681 of the iPhone Stoves were seized by Chinese police, which is an interesting number for a wide variety of reasons. First, it means that someone actually believed that more than 600 people would be interested in buying a crappy stove just because it was from Apple. Second, why were there only 681 of them? Shouldn't there have been an even number of stoves, such as 700? That being the case, it could mean that 19 lost souls were actually duped into buying an iPhone Stove.Last February, M.I.C Gadget reported that Los Angeles cops had seized $10 million worth of counterfeit Apple products, many of which were fairly convincing knock-offs. Some counterfeiters went the extra mile and sold fake iPhone 5s – an impressive feat considering Apple hasn't even released the iPhone 5 yet. Of course, the actual nuts and bolts of the phone were bound to be disastrous. But in terms of counterfeit marketing, these thieves were ahead of their time.In December, one of the most blatantly hilarious counterfeit items appeared: the AirBook. Featuring Apple's logo (but not Apple's OS – it uses Windows instead), the AirBook is a cheap copy of the much-loved MacBook Air. But at $499, it isn't really “cheap” at all. It is, however, an overpriced piece of junk.For a good laugh, Apartment Therapy has a nice image of an old-school phone (complete with buttons and all) that says “iPhone” on the front. While it is understandable that some consumers could be fooled by some of the other counterfeit products, anyone that has seen or used the iPhone knows that it is all but devoid of buttons. And anyone that knows anything about Steve Jobs knows that he was not a fan of buttons and did everything he could to eliminate them from his products.Clearly the counterfeiters were not aware of this fact. But they should have at least realized that if Apple were to make a stove, it would be the coolest and most unique stove ever made. It would probably feature a plethora of cooking apps, retail for $3,000, and bake the most amazing pies. Apple pies, of course!Hmm, now I want a real Apple stove. Perhaps after conquering the TV market, this should be Apple's next goal. (I'm only half-joking.)Follow me @LouisBedigian