Counterfeits from FMCG.... to Mobiles

Cheap imitations of popular FMCG brands in rural India is a problem which is quite well recognised, but the urabn markets are also not much better of. Many companies have countered this problem through innovative packaging to make imitation more difficult. The estimated market for such products is in excess of Rs 25 Billion.

But the news that fake handsets are posing a threat to mobile players is what took me by surprise. The number of fake handsets sold is put at a million. Translating to a loss of close to a billion dollars to the mobile companies. Link

We have always had a grey market where you could go and pick up a smuggled Walkman or a mobile, in the pre-lib days but then fake mobile being sold in such a huge numbers...