China - page 3

Apple won’t have to boot WeChat out of its China App Store

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WeChat logo
WeChat is threatened by Trump's executive order.
Photo: WeChat

Apple won’t be forced to boot messaging app WeChat out of the App Store in China, Bloomberg claims in a weekend report.

According to the publication, the Trump administration is “privately seeking to reassure” American companies like Apple that they can still do business with WeChat in China. Two weeks ago, Trump ordered a U.S. ban on WeChat, although the details were not clarified.

Trump’s WeChat ban could cost Apple more than $25 billion per year

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WeChat logo
WeChat is threatened by Trump's executive order.
Photo: WeChat

A WeChat ban imposed by President Donald Trump could cost Apple more than $25 billion per year, claims a report published Monday.

Those numbers are based on the idea that 75% of iPhone and iPad sales could dry up in China. Apple would lose money not just from the missing device sales, but also from the resulting decline in its subscription services.

WeChat alternatives receive a boost following Trump’s executive order

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WeChat logo
WeChat is threatened by Trump's executive order.
Photo: WeChat

Downloads of encrypted messaging apps Signal and QQ reportedly spiked following President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting Tencent’s WeChat.

WeChat, while not particularly widely used in the United States, is an essential app in China. Many people who use it in the United States do so to keep in touch with friends and family in China, where WhatsApp has been banned since 2017.

Apple’s biggest supplier splits its manufacturing to avoid being hit with tariffs

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Apple's relationship with Foxconn on the rocks
Tim Cook meets with a person working on the production line building iPhones.
Photo: Apple

Apple manufacturer Foxconn said Wednesday that it plans to split its supply chain in two. One segment will service the China market, while the other will focus on the United States.

Foxconn chairman Young Liu said the manufacturing giant now operates 30% of its capacity outside China, up from 25% last June. In recent years, the company began moving manufacturing to other regions such as Southeast Asia to avoid possible tariffs on Chinese goods headed to the United States.

Apple reportedly imported clothes from Chinese company accused of forced labor

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Apple Paris
Apple staffers' uniforms may have been partly manufactured by an accused company.
Photo: Apple

A Chinese company facing U.S. sanctions for using forced labor provided clothing or raw materials to Apple, possibly in the form of uniforms for its retail employees, claims The Guardian.

Changji Esquel Textile is one of a group of 11 companies that reportedly violated human rights in China’s western Xinjiang region. The company denies using forced labor “anywhere” in its business and says it will appeal its inclusion on the sanctions list.

Despite challenges, TikTok remains world’s No. 1 non-gaming app

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TikTok continues to dominate the App Store in 2020.
TikTok continues to dominate the App Store in 2021.
Photo: Kon Karampelas/Unsplash CC

Despite the controversy surrounding it, 15-second video creation and sharing app TikTok remained the world’s most downloaded non-gaming app in July, according to a new report by Sensor Tower.

TikTok ranked as the No. 1 app on both iOS and the Google Play app stores, with more than 65.3 million installs in the month. This represents a 21.4% increase from July last year. In the first quarter of 2020, TikTok registered the best three months of any app ever when it comes to downloads.

US could boot more of China’s ‘untrusted’ apps from the App Store

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TikTok may only be the first app targeted.
Photo: Apple

The Trump administration wants to eliminate “untrusted” Chinese apps from the App Store as part of a multiphase “Clean Network” plan to cut down on potential security risks from China.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States will crack down on apps with parent companies based in China. The two specific apps mentioned are TikTok and WeChat. However, Pompeo simply used these to illustrate the kinds of apps that could get the boot.

Apple creating China-based supply chain exclusively for local market

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Apple's relationship with Foxconn on the rocks
Apple is rethinking its supply chain.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly putting together a supply chain consisting of exclusively Chinese manufacturers to build iPhones for the China market.

This is at the same time that Apple is trying to expand its supply chain. That is partly so as to lessen its reliance on China. Apple has also been building iPhones in India which are aimed at the local market there.

New Apple Watch Activity Challenge celebrates China’s National Fitness Day

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National Fitness Day China
Apple celebrates National Fitness Day for the third year in a row.
Photo: Apple

Apple is celebrating China’s National Fitness Day for the third year in a row with a new Apple Watch Activity Challenge. The National Fitness Day challenge can be completed by recording a half hour or longer workout on August 8.

China designated August 8 as National Fitness day in 2009, marking the anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

Apple’s newly opened Beijing retail store looks absolutely stunning

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Apple Store Beijing 4
This is located close to the site of Apple's first ever China Apple Store.
Photo: Apple

Apple opened its first store in China back in 2008 at Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun mall. Now, more than a decade later, it has opened a spectacular new Apple Sanlitun store adjacent to the now-shuttered location of the original.

Apple Sanlitun is twice the size of the original Beijing store, and includes a viewing gallery, boardroom (for users to get advice from Apple experts), and a forum for future live events. Check out the pictures below.

Apple boots 2,500 unlicensed games from the App Store in China

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Apple Store
Decision reflects Chinese laws about proper licenses.
Photo: Apple

Apple eliminated upward of 2,500 games from its China App Store in the first full week of July, a new report from app analytics firm Sensor Tower notes.

Mobile gaming regulations in the country mean that all games must receive a license from China’s National Press and Publication Administration prior to release. Regulators had promised a crackdown on offending apps since 2016. However, they were slow to act. In the meantime, unlicensed games continued to be published in the App Store.

US government is ‘looking at’ banning TikTok

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TikTok 1
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reservations about TikTok.
Photo: TikTok

The United States is considering banning TikTok and other Chinese social media apps, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Speaking with Fox News, Pompeo said “we are certainly looking” at such a ban. When asked if people should download the app, Pompeo said, “Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Apple ‘assessing’ new Hong Kong security law that will crack down on protests

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Activist shareholders push Apple on why it booted Hong Kong protest app
This isn't the first time Apple has been dragged into the ongoing Hong Kong protests.
Photo: Fredrik Rubensson/Flickr CC

Apple is “assessing” a new Hong Kong security law that could make protest a crime, claims Bloomberg.

The newly passed National Security Law criminalizes acts of secession (breaking away from China), undermining power and authority of the government, the use of violence or intimidation, and collusion with foreign or external forces.

China says that it was return stability to Hong Kong, although critics of the new law worry that it will negatively affect freedom of speech and protest.

Apple supplier resolves customs dispute on China and India border

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Foxconn moving additional iPhone production to India as coronavirus disrupts work
Tensions between China and India have been ramping up.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn has successfully resolved an issue that was stopping its component shipments from China being imported to India, amid tensions between the two nations.

Customs officials were holding shipments from China following violent incidents at the Himalayan border, which is shared by China and India. This was reportedly causing problems for Foxconn, which carries out iPhone manufacturing (among other things) in both countries.

iPhone’s seesaw year in China continues as sales fell nearly 8% in May

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iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
iPhone sales fluctuate wildly in China in 2020.
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

The iPhone’s seesaw year in China continued in May as sales declined 7.7% from the previous month, CNBC reports. It suggests that the period of pent-up demand for the iPhone following lockdown may have worn off already. In total, Apple reportedly sold 3.6 million iPhones in China, down from 3.9 million one month earlier.

By comparison, Apple sales rose by a massive 160% month-on-month in April, after lockdown conditions in China eased up and Apple Stores were reopened. In February, iPhone sales in China declined by 60% as COVID-19 swept the country and hurt both supply and demand for Apple’s handsets.

Apple could eliminate thousands of unlicensed games from China App Store next month

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Apple Store
Thousands of apps could get the boot in China next month.
Photo: Apple

Apple is set to begin a deep clean of the App Store in China, removing “thousands” of games that don’t have the proper government approvals, a report by Bloomberg claims.

Developers and publishers have reportedly been told that they will need to secure licenses to continue selling their games starting next month. While regulators have been promising such a crackdown since 2016, they have been slow to push through rules. As a result, unlicensed games were still being published in the interim.

Apple slashes the cost of iPhones in China as part of giant sales festival

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iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
Apple is trying to continue building momentum in China.
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

Apple has slashed prices on the iPhone in China ahead of the country’s 6.18 shopping festival, which kicks off this month.

On Apple’s official online store on the Alibaba-owned online retailer Tmall, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and 2020 iPhone SE all have big price reductions. Official Apple resellers like JD.com are also getting aggressive with their own price cuts — with steeper discounts than even Tmall in some cases.

China won’t punish Apple over US sanctions on Huawei, experts claim

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Chinese company Huawei wants the media buzz that would come with releasing the world's first foldable phone.
Chinese state media has suggested U.S. companies like Apple could face sanctions.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr CC

Despite concerns being raised, Apple is unlikely to face any blowback from China over the United State’s current standoff with Huawei, experts told CNBC in a report published Tuesday.

Chinese state media recently suggested that U.S. firms including Apple could have their success in China hampered by “rounds of endless investigations” after the White House imposed sanctions on Chinese smartphone maker Huawei. But expert voices suggest China’s bark may be worse than its bite in this case.

China prepares to retaliate against Apple for US sanctions on Huawei

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iPhone sales
Apple could be caught in the middle of the trade war between the U.S. and China.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

The Trump administration on Friday announced a new rule aimed at blocking Huawei from getting the processors it needs to make phones, networking equipment and more. The Chinese government reportedly threatened to retaliate against Apple and other American companies.

iPhone sales in China rebound 416% after a disastrous February

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iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
Apple looks to have sold 2.5 million iPhones in China in March alone.
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

iPhone sales may be rebounding in China after a new China Information and Communications Research Institute report suggests that Apple sold 2.5 million iPhones there during the month of March.

Due to the coronavirus-related dip in sales in February, during which Apple sold just 500,000 handsets, that’s a massive 416% increase month-on-month.

Apple Pay’s Express Transit feature now available to commuters in China

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Express Transit makes it easy to pay for transport.
Photo: Apple

China commuters can now use Apple Pay’s Express Transit feature to ride public transportation in 275 cities nationwide. That is as a result of Apple partnering with China T-Union, a contactless transit card that lets holder ride subways and buses, while receiving assorted discounts.

The news comes as China starts to get back to business as usual following the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

As China’s Wuhan ends lockdown, iPhone app a necessity to travel

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China's QR code for health risk
Green means go. Yellow or red sends you back to quarantine.
Photo: Alipay

Residents of Wuhan, the Chinese city where the COVID-19 pandemic began, were free to move about Wednesday after a government-ordered lockdown was lifted, but only if they have the “green light” on their iPhone.

Freedom comes with a QR code residents are required to carry on mobile devices like their iPhones – and can be restricted at any moment should the scanned code flash the wrong color.

iPhone resellers in China slash prices as sales fall

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iPhone-discount-Suning
Shoppers can save as much as $212 on iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

iPhone resellers in China are offering big discounts on Apple’s latest handsets in an effort to reverse falling sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suning, one of Apple’s largest retail partners in China, is offering discounts of up to 1,500 yuan (approximately $212) on the iPhone 11 series. The move is expected to trigger further price adjustments on other 4G smartphones.