“Apple Inc. has come under fire by Chinese state media, which claims the U.S. technology giant isn’t doing enough to block texts and images trafficking in prohibited content including pornography, gambling and counterfeit goods,” Yang Jie and Tripp Mickle report for The Wall Street Journal. “In a barrage that began last week, China’s state-controlled news agency Xinhua and at least four state-supported media outlets have published criticisms of Apple for not doing enough to filter banned content on its iMessage service.”
“State broadcaster CCTV joined in Tuesday on another front, saying Apple’s app store allowed illegal gambling apps disguised as official lottery apps,” Yang and Mickle report. “The state-controlled media criticism comes amid rising trade tensions with the U.S. President Donald Trump this month threatened tariffs on virtually all Chinese exports to the U.S. With only about $130 billion in imports from the U.S., China has limited options for retaliation, say trade experts, who expect the country to either increase duties on U.S. imports or punish U.S. companies, including Apple.”
“On Monday, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other top government agencies said they would impose new requirements requiring mobile phone makers to include spam-filtering features,” Yang and Mickle report. “It wasn’t immediately clear how the order might affect iPhones, since Apple says it does have anti-spam measures… According to Apple, users can automatically filter out unknown senders, which could help them screen spam. They can also report a spammer to Apple by clicking a link beneath a message.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Impotent saber-rattling.
Apple benefits China in many, many ways and China knows this.
SEE ALSO:
Why the US-China trade war may not have much impact on Apple – July 17, 2018
Apple launches $300 million China Clean Energy Fund – July 13, 2018
What trade war? Markets shrug off US-China dueling tariffs – July 6, 2018
U.S. President Trump puts tech in trade war crosshairs with planned curb on China investment – June 25, 2018
The Trump administration told Apple it would not place tariffs on iPhones assembled in China – June 19, 2018
Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn’t expect a full-blown trade war between the U.S. and China – June 5, 2018
Why Apple stock can withstand a Chinese trade war – April 5, 2018
Apple CEO Tim Cook heads to China as President Trump orders 25 percent tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports – March 23, 2018
BoA Merrill Lynch: U.S. and China trade tensions not an issue for Apple – March 23, 2018
Designed in California. Assembled in China. How Apple’s iPhone skews U.S. trade deficit – March 21, 2018
Elon Musk sides with President Trump on trade with China – March 8, 2018
Analyst: President Trump’s tariff impact on Apple would be just a ’rounding error’ – March 7, 2018
Apple to spend $507 million to set up two more research centers, boost investment in in China – March 17, 2017
Tim Cook back in Beijing, says Apple will further boost investment in China – August 16, 2016
Apple invests $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing – May 12, 2016
Apple expands renewable energy, new environmental initiatives in China – May 10, 2015
Apple invests in China solar project – April 16, 2015
Another billion to another Chinese Start up and they’ll be cool for a while, again.
Apple; the filter to prevent/enable the “right” kind of content. Great position to be, if one likes living in a contradictory mode.
Maybe for the citizens of China, the censorship’s effect is lessened b/c wealth is an option? At least for now.
It would be funny if Apple said it can no longer meet the “requirements” needed by the Chinese govt and then stop selling the iPhone in China
… & let the smuggling en masse resume.
It would be less funny if you had a fiduciary duty to protect the shareholders.
Fiduciary duty requires a company act with the honest belief that the actions taken was in the bests interests of the company. Cutting off a government that is attempting to extort it sounds like a qualifying situation to me.
FD doesn’t require a company to make a profit at the expense of the larger business