Fakes by the Numbers: Counterfeiting Exploded Into a $600 billion Problem
Counterfeiting
has exploded into a $600-billion-a-year problem, growing over 10,000
percent in the past 20 years, according
to The International AntiCounterfeiting Coaltio. The International Chamber
of Commerce estimates that 7% of the world trade is in counterfeit goods
and that the counterfeit market is worth $ 350 billion.
About $100 billion worth of counterfeit tech hardware gets hawked worldwide each year, according to the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement, or AGMA. That's 3 times more than pirated software and 10 times more than pirated music and movies, according to industry reports. Counterfeit software is reported to be a $34 billion market.
Today, 10% of tech hardware products sold are counterfeit, AGMA estimates. Fake products include personal computers, networking gear, printers, memory sticks, cameras, camcorders and cell phones.
Counterfeit automobile parts, like brake pads, cost the auto industry alone over $12 billion dollars in lost sales. If these losses were eliminated the auto industry could hire 200,000 additional workers.
More on Fakes By the Numbers, according to The International AntiCounterfeiting Coaltion
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$600 Billion:
$23 Billion:
$20 Billion:
550,000:
10,000:
$1.69:
68:
