“With its rare apology, Apple Inc went from pariah to praiseworthy in the eyes of China’s state-controlled media, a lesson for other foreign firms not to underestimate the speed and power of the government press,” Melanie Lee reports for Reuters.
“After coming under near-daily media assault for the past two weeks and facing the threat of penalties from two Chinese government bureaus, Apple apologized to Chinese consumers on Monday for poor communication over its warranty policy and said it will change the terms for some of its iPhones sold in China,” Lee reports. “The Chinese newspapers that threw brickbats at Apple a few days ago have since changed their tune. ‘The company’s apology letter has eased the situation, softening the tense relationship between Apple and the Chinese market… Its reaction is worth respect compared with other American companies,’ wrote popular tabloid the Global Times, published by Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily.”
Lee reports, “The Foreign Ministry praised Apple for ‘conscientiously’ responding to consumers’ demands. ‘We approve of what Apple said,’ spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing on Tuesday… ‘That Timothy Cook had to step up and respond from the CEO’s chair shows the importance of China and how critical it is as a market not just for Apple but for every multinational company here,’ said Kent Kedl, Shanghai-based head of Greater China and North Asia for risk consultancy firm Control Risks… ‘They’re out of the woods and into the weeds. Things will rarely be smooth for Apple in China – even if consumers love it there will always be factions in and out of government that are trying to take it down,’ said Michael Clendenin, managing director of technology consultancy RedTech Advisors. ‘Apple made it easy this time, but they have learned to be more proactive. The next time they stumble, it will be easier to recover,’ he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
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