US Customs seized $ 62.6 million worth of fake AirPods and headphones since October

In the nine months to July, U.S. customs officials seized $ 62.2 million worth of fake AirPods and other wireless counterfeits, according to data obtained by Information. About 360,000 units were confiscated during this period. The agency said seizures of counterfeit wireless headphones have increased by 50% over the past five years “as products such as Apple’s AirPods have grown in popularity.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 295,000 sets of counterfeit headphones worth $ 61.7 million in the government’s previous fiscal year (which begins in October), so it appears it there are more bogus headphones than ever in the US market. The value of the fake headphones officers seized in 2019 was comparatively miniscule at $ 3.3 million.

These numbers are probably just a drop in the ocean compared to the number of counterfeits sneaking across borders. It is almost impossible to know the exact figures, but estimates made by the United States Chamber of Commerce in 2016 suggest that authorities seize only 2.5% of counterfeit products in the world.

Given this estimate, Information suggests that counterfeit AirPods could cost Apple billions in lost U.S. sales this year alone, assuming buyers would otherwise get genuine models back. Customs officials have fake AirPods at least a dozen times in the United States in recent years. The products confiscated in four of those seizures would have been worth around $ 13 million if they were genuine Apple products, officials said.

There are, of course, other brands that counterfeiters copy, and it’s unclear what percentage of fake headphones customs officials confiscate are counterfeit AirPods. Counterfeit headphones aren’t exactly new, but having precise seizure numbers shows just how ubiquitous they are. Then again, even though customs officials believe it, the extent of the problem may not be too clear after all.