Some of the bogus Sennheiser mics and literature turned up in the raid.

Sennheiser and Shure have announced that they recently teamed with the government of China to halt counterfeit production of microphones in China. On Wednesday, December 12, 2001, officials from the AIC's Jiangmen and Enping offices conducted raids at three locations of one counterfeit manufacturer, and routine inspections on four other manufacturers located within Enping City, China.

Over 50,000 pieces (not all were complete microphones) of Shure and Sennheiser counterfeit items were confiscated during the day's events, making it one of the largest raids to be executed in pro audio history.

"We asked Sennheiser to join us on this raid because we wanted to show a united front to counterfeiters and consumers alike, indicating that the industry will not tolerate these activities," said Sandy LaMantia, president and CEO of Shure Incorporated. "We embrace fair competition, which inevitably pushes the industry forward, but we refuse to stand by idly as people attempt to deceive our consumers with inferior versions of our products bearing our name."

The December 12th raid uncovered large quantities of look-alike Shure SM58, BG Series, and 14A models, as well as Sennheiser evolution 818, and 835 microphones. All goods were confiscated pending an investigation by China's AIC, but preliminary inspections revealed that the counterfeit goods had poor sound quality and severe handling noise.

"Product piracy is an immense problem which damages the reputation of the whole industry. Therefore it is only logical to work together with our competitors in planning and implementing effective action against a common opponent," said Rolf Meyer, president of marketing and sales at Sennheiser. "We have an obligation to provide our customers with a quality standard, and will do all that we can to protect that standard."


(For further commentary from Mr. Meyer regarding product piracy, how to spot fakes, hot markets for forgery and more, click here. Also, PSW Contributor Gary Stanfill, former president of Vega, weighs in on knockoff products. Click here to get Gary’s take.)