China completely bans use of iPhone for government business

AppleInsider

In a move made ostensibly for security reasons, China has mandated that central government office workers not use the iPhone for work, nor bring it into the building at all.

iPhone 14 Pro Max

The move is an escalation by the Chinese government. The iPhone has had some restrictions on use for the last decade in government offices, and the latest move just increases the crackdown on the use of foreign-designed tech.

Most of the world's iPhones are assembled in China, and a very large percentage of the parts for the phones are made there as well. It's not clear why the country views the device as a security threat, other than it is designed by a non-China company.

The move is similar to the US ban on Huawei technology in the US. It also comes at a time where Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been increasingly urging its government officials and state-owned businesses to replace foreign technology to products it views as more "safe."

In 2020, Chinese Foreign Ministry representative Lijian Zhao said in a press conference the Chinese will have no reason to keep iPhones or Apple products should a ban on WeChat occur. He cited concerns that U.S. politicians have too much power to suppress non-American businesses.

WeChat was banned for a time starting in January 2021. The ban was revoked in June 2021, and replaced by a U.S. Commerce Department initiative to evaluate apps that could be connected to foreign adversaries.

Wednesday's report by the Wall Street Journal says that the move could have a "chilling effect" for companies, including Apple. It goes on to note that Apple dominates the upper-end of the iPhone market in the country, and gleans about 19% of its revenue from the country.

However, that premise seems overblown. Governmental spending on the iPhone is a tiny fraction of that 19%.

Nearly all of the iPhones sold in China are to the general populace -- and that market appears to be growing.

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davidw

I wonder if this, have anything to do with this ......


 https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/09/04/chinas-app-rule-changes-applied-everywhere-but-the-app-store

netrox

It's because the Chinese govt cannot have a backdoor to iphones. Simple as that.  

muthuk_vanalingam

netrox said:

It's because the Chinese govt cannot have a backdoor to iphones. Simple as that.  

Talk about non-sequiturs, this post takes the cake. They don't need backdoor when they have access to the front door. Simple as that.

mikethemartian

netrox said:

It's because the Chinese govt cannot have a backdoor to iphones. Simple as that.  

iPhones are built inside their house.

danox

Consider the source the Wall Street Journal, Apple has an announcement next week, and between now and next week there will be many other articles written to downplay the good news from Apple next week, after all Apple is doomed……

mark fearing

With the current state of insanity between countries - I expect a future where many countries simply don't allow any tech from a foreign country to be used. I don't think we are that far away. 

waveparticle

China is a US-imagined foreign adversary advocated by China haters for centuries. LOL
BTW, NYC banned TikTok use for security reasons. In case you missed this domestic news. 

danox

mark fearing said:

With the current state of insanity between countries - I expect a future where many countries simply don't allow any tech from a foreign country to be used. I don't think we are that far away. 

True, the thing that has me puzzled is that we (Americans) made the first move to convince China to open up in 1973 (Nixon and Kissinger) now we’re unhappy with the outcome. The working class (unionized) said no but the managerial class said shut up.

chadbag

waveparticle said:

China is a US-imagined foreign adversary advocated by China haters for centuries. LOL
BTW, NYC banned TikTok use for security reasons. In case you missed this domestic news. 

Lol.  Pull your head out of the sand. 

Appleish

Russia did the same thing. Makes me even happier with Apple's secure-ness. Russia and China want electronics that are easier to break into and monitor.

killroy

A bet NSO is laughing its butt off.

gatorguy

Appleish said:

Russia did the same thing. Makes me even happier with Apple's secure-ness. Russia and China want electronics that are easier to break into and monitor.

Then all Western phones must be secure because it was not just iPhones banned, it was all foreign-brand phones. Apple was not singled out. 

Madbum

This already has been the case.

most government workers will have iPhone for personal use. So they will have 2 phones like I am sure most have now.

so what is the issue?

9secondkox2

China already controls Apple users’ data inside China (and apparently your communications too - if you communicate with someone in China). 

This is strongsrming apple to try to squeeze more out of a compliant apple which has already invested hundreds of billions in the country. 

And likely, an attempt to hurt Taiwan (tsmc chips in iPhones) and its partners. 

Jinpi is worried that after using Huawei, TikTok, and others to spy on everyone else, that tsmc may be implementing its own spy hardware. Lol

blastdoor

Depriving themselves of the best tech is a welcome self own. I hope they ban all chips from intel, amd, and nvidia, too. That’ll show those western imperialists!

Skeptical

netrox said:

It's because the Chinese govt cannot have a backdoor to iphones. Simple as that.  

Did not something in your head try to prevent you from hitting the send key?

jas99

Skeptical said:

netrox said:

It's because the Chinese govt cannot have a backdoor to iphones. Simple as that.  

Did not something in your head try to prevent you from hitting the send key?

Don’t be so quick to scorn. 

Are you saying the Chinese government has access to the Secure Enclave, for instance? 

It’s perfectly reasonable for Apple to have designed components such that the assembler can’t bypass security measures. 

The iPhone may be assembled in China, but that doesn’t mean Xi has access to global user data. 

danox

mark fearing said:

With the current state of insanity between countries - I expect a future where many countries simply don't allow any tech from a foreign country to be used. I don't think we are that far away. 

The black market is gonna love that…….

danox

Appleish said:

Russia did the same thing. Makes me even happier with Apple's secure-ness. Russia and China want electronics that are easier to break into and monitor.

Every country on the planet fits into that category, in recent times the most successful country breaking into iPhones/iPads, isn’t Russia or China.