Beijing, China – China has banned government officials from using or bringing Apple products into the workplace, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The report, which was published on Wednesday, said that the officials were given the instructions in recent weeks by their superiors in group chats or meetings. It was not clear how widely the orders had been distributed.
IPhone Users - Image Source: Mirror
The news sent Apple’s stock price tumbling by 3.6%, wiping out more than $106 billion in market value. China is one of Apple’s largest markets, accounting for about a fifth of its revenue.
Analysts said the move showed that Beijing was not willing to spare any American company in its efforts to reduce its reliance on U.S. technology.
“Even Apple is not immune,” said Tom Forte, an analyst at DA Davidson. “In China, where it employs hundreds of thousands, if not more than a million workers, to assemble its products through its relationship with Foxconn.”
“This should inspire companies to diversify their supply chains and customer concentrations to be less reliant on China in the event of escalating tensions,” Forte added.
The ban could raise concerns among other foreign companies operating in China as tensions between the two countries escalate. It comes ahead of an Apple event next week that analysts believe will be about the launch of a new line of iPhones.
The WSJ report did not mention any other smartphone manufacturers besides Apple.
The latest restriction from China mirrors a similar ban imposed by the United States on the Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies and the short-form video app TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
For more than a decade, China has been working to reduce its reliance on foreign technology, requiring state-owned companies such as banks to switch to domestic software and boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
Analysts say Huawei recently launched a 5G smartphone that uses a somewhat advanced silicon chip that was thought to exceed its capabilities due to U.S.-led export restrictions.
TechInsights, a research firm, said the Mate 60 processor is the first to use SMIC’s most advanced 7-nanometer technology, suggesting that the Chinese government is making some progress in its efforts to build a local chip ecosystem.
Tensions between China and the United States have been rising as Washington works with allies to prevent China from accessing critical equipment needed to maintain its competitive chip industry, and Beijing restricts shipments from major U.S. companies, including Boeing and the chipmaker Micron Technology.
Angelo Zino, an analyst at CFRA Research, said he does not expect an immediate impact on Apple’s earnings, given the popularity of the iPhone in China.
During a visit to China last week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that American companies had complained to her that China had become “uninvestable,” citing fines, raids, and other actions that have made it risky to do business in the world’s second-largest economy.
