China Said to Ban Government Purchases of Apple Hardware Amid Heightened Security Concerns

According to Bloomberg, China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance have prohibited government purchases of Apple hardware, citing security concerns as the reason for the ban.

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Ten Apple products were not included on a recent government procurement list from June that governs the spending of public funds, according to anonymous government officials who provided the information to Bloomberg. Products include the iPad, iPad Mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Earlier procurement lists also banned antivirus software from Symantec and energy-efficient computers from Microsoft. Tension between China and companies in the US has been heightened following accusations of hacking and spying.

“When the government stops the procurement of products, it sends a signal to corporates and semi-government bodies,” said Mark Po, an analyst with UOB Kay Hian Ltd. in Hong Kong. “The Chinese government wants to make sure that overseas companies shouldn’t have too much influence in China.”

The reason for Apple's omission from the list of approved hardware is apparently being debated, however, with Caixin reporting [Google Translate] stating that Apple simplify failed to qualify for a semi-annual update to the list of approved vendors of energy-efficient devices. The report speculates that a miscommunication may have resulted in Apple failing to submit the required information for inclusion on the list.

Apple has a growing presence in China, with 26 percent revenue growth reported in Q3 2014 due to increases in iPhone, iPad and Mac sales. Apple recently opened its eleventh retail store in China and has made a concerted push to attract Chinese developers to the iOS App Store. Apple currently is the fifth largest smartphone vendor in the country, accounting for 7% of market share.

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Top Rated Comments

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pubwvj

67 months ago

Not Hacker Friendly Enough

Hmm... Afraid they can't hack it?

Rating: 10 Votes

bradl

67 months ago

Linux it is then. Being that Microsoft, Apple, and Google are all American, it kind of leaves them with few options.

Umm.. Linux was created a Finnish guy living in Portland, OR. He has been since roughly 1999, has two children (possibly more now) with one a natural born citizen. Suffice it to say, you could say that Linux has been an American product for at least 15 years.

But here's the irony of it all. They are wanting to ban Apple Hardware hardware made in their own country, by a company based in China, using Chinese workers.

Talk about shooting themselves in the foot.

BL.

Rating: 7 Votes

497902

67 months ago

So in the end only Lenovo PCs with Red Hat Linux will be allowed?

Rating: 5 Votes

furi0usbee

67 months ago

LOL. So they are mad that Windows is not open source and now they are afraid Apple hardware is a security threat. Funny. Whatever China is afraid of, that's what you should be using, because obviously they are having issues spying on their citizens with those products.

Rating: 3 Votes

Dilster3k

67 months ago

That's so interesting, considering how much Tim Cook pushed hard to strengthen that relationship.

Rating: 2 Votes

smoledman

67 months ago

This is getting downright paranoid and spiteful. I mean banning beautiful Apple products is a human rights violation.

Rating: 2 Votes

iZac

67 months ago

This is about government purchases. Not the public.

Exactly, it won't stop iPads and Macs being used by government officials, it means they just can't bill it to Beijing. That makes them an even more appealing item for Guanxi :P

Rating: 2 Votes

sir1963nz

67 months ago

According to the article, it seems to be government purchases. I don't see anything about banning Apple for the general public. The government probably wants to direct more of its own money to Chinese-based companies. Many countries do that.

The USA uses subsidies for its agricultural sector to help keep out goods from other countries, China uses bans to achieve the same thing. Keeping the local industry local.

Wages are rising in China so there may well be a fear that manufacturing will eventually shift to India, Indonesia, Brazil etc, this is one way China will keep manufacturing in China because it is such a large market. The USA lost its manufacturing to China/Cheap labour economies and China does not want the same pain.

Rating: 1 Votes