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China Bans iPad, MacBook Pro, Other Apple Products For Government Use
MojoKid (1002251) writes "China seems to be on a mission to isolate itself from the world, at least in terms of technology. After banning Windows 8 on government PCs and raiding several of Microsoft's offices in China as part of an anti-trust investigation, Chinese officials have now prohibited purchase of several Apple products for government use. The list of banned Apple products include the iPad, iPad Mini, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and half a dozen other items, all of which were left off of a final government procurement list distributed in July. This is a potentially big hit to Apple, which generated around 16 percent of its $37.4 billion in revenue last quarter from China. Apple saw its iPad sales jump 51 percent and Mac sales boosted 39 percent in China."
Blame the NSA
we will just use an knock off made at the same factory as your own stuff.
...for cooperating with the Machiavellian pro-war, pro-surveillance, pro-torture old boy's club in the federal bureaucracy.
Up to now, they've been banning proprietary products for the benefit of more open ones. I know that we like to show China as a country with isolationist tendencies, but I'm not sure the glove fits on this one. I don't think choosing not to get screwed by Microsoft or Apple is such a bad thing.
"China seems to be on a mission to isolate itself from the world, at least in terms of technology."
Why would they want to isolate themselves from the world? They may be looking to increase security (with the whole NSA mess, I wouldn't blame them) or trying to cut a better deal with Apple. There may be other rational reasons too.
China has always been controlled from the center. In past eras, China has had technological and exploration advantages over the West that were wiped out by intrusion and isolation commanded from China's locus of concentrated power - whether via emperors, or the current regime.
Long run (maybe, even near-long-term) this does not bode well for China's prospects, because when one is sealed off from outside ideas and innovation, one will ultimately fall behind and adapt only in suboptimal ways. What results is a waste of social and intellectual capital.
Since this only affects government purchases, we'd have to know whether a significant part of last quarter's Chinese sales involved government entities purchasing these products.
I'd expect government sales - especially to China - aren't a huge part of Apple's business.
#DeleteChrome
You mean the Chinese will start pirating Linux next?
The only way to get them to use Linux is to tell them it costs something.
Illegally connect and use RedHat repos?
China has always been controlled from the center. In past eras, China has had technological and exploration advantages over the West that were wiped out by intrusion and isolation commanded from China's locus of concentrated power - whether via emperors, or the current regime.
Long run (maybe, even near-long-term) this does not bode well for China's prospects, because when one is sealed off from outside ideas and innovation, one will ultimately fall behind and adapt only in suboptimal ways. What results is a waste of social and intellectual capital.
That makes no sense. China just banned its government from using Apple products, not Apple products in general. It hasn't sealed itself from outside ideas and innovations at all. Chinese citizens can still buy iPads and iPhones so Chinese smartphone manufactures still has to compete.
Another reason why this may have happened that most people probably wouldn't think about is that this might be a move to fight corruption. iPads and iPhones have been vastly popular as "gifts" within the government. Banning the government from purchasing them as gifts would help to fight some of the corruption problem they're having.
China has not banned any Apple products. Some were not included in the "green" catalog because Apple failed to submit data.