Apple stepping up its efforts against cloners in China?

There was an interesting report out of Shenzhen, China this week which had Apple Inc. officials coordinating with Shenzhen police to raid a workshop in the city’s business district.  They seized more than 1,000 iPhone clones and 6,000 phone batteries.   The report stated that Apple's team on the ground in China was responsible for the raid.

Apple is sending staff to Shenzhen to learn more about the case and could possibly meet the press Thursday, an Apple staff member surnamed Xiao, who is with Apple’s market surveillance department in southern China, said yesterday.

Shenzhen is in southern China near Hong Kong where many of the cloned Apple iPhones are manufactured.  Cloned iPhones and iPods have flooded the black market almost since Apple introduced them three years ago.  But this is the first we've heard of Apple coordinating a raid with the Chinese police.

The report brings up a few interesting questions:

Why now and why at this particular venue?  Was there something special about these particular clones?  These were particularly cheap ($74/ea) or about a the tenth the cost of the real deal.  

MobileMag thinks that these pirated iPhones may have been running the iPhone OS.  That's doubtful for a $74 phone but would be a huge deal if true.  That would warrant an investigation by Apple.

Also, there is the issue of the Foxxcon employee who fell to his death a few months ago over the iPhone 4G prototype.  Perhaps these knockoffs resembled the 4G iPhone and that is why Apple got involved.

Or, most likely, Apple is finally starting to take China and the black market seriously.  Without putting some fear into the cloners and forcing their operations more underground, they'll have a hard time selling their wares in the biggest market on earth.

Image via Techlunch