China

Apple's "Today at Apple" in-store creative sessions are returning to some retail locations in mainland China, following a pause due to the global health crisis. Today at Apple will resume at the following nine stores across the country on Monday, August 3, writes Michael Steeber (via 9to5Mac). Apple Zhujiang New Town Apple MixC Nanning Apple Nanjing Jinmao Place Apple Suzhou Apple...

Apple on Saturday removed nearly 30,000 apps from its Chinese App Store due to the apps lacking an official license from local regulators, reports Reuters. The report, which cites data from research firm Qimai, says that 90% of the apps removed were games. The report also mentions that over 2,500 additional apps were removed from the China App Store over the first week of July. Apple in...

President Trump plans to ban TikTok from the United States, NBC News reports. Aboard Air Force One on Friday night, Trump reportedly said "As far as TikTok is concerned we're banning them from the United States." He described the action as a "severance" and said that an executive order enforcing the ban could be signed as soon as today. "I have that authority," he said. In recent weeks, ...

Apple's iPhone was the fastest-growing smartphone brand in China in the second quarter, according to data published by Counterpoint Research. Bouncing back from the decline in the market in Q1 following the global health crisis, Apple grew 32% year on year thanks to the continued popularity of its ‌iPhone‌ 11 lineup and heavy discounting at an annual shopping festival that Apple doesn't...

Apple says it has found no evidence of alleged forced labor at one of its key Chinese suppliers, after the U.S. government blacklisted O-film as part of its continuing crackdown on Chinese tech companies. Tim Cook on a visit to a Chinese O-film facility in 2017 Camera and touch module supplier O-film Group was one of 11 Chinese companies added to the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List on...

Apple is assessing a new Hong Kong security law that makes "subversion" of the government illegal and raises concerns about the criminalization of protests, reports Bloomberg. China last week implemented legislation allowing local authorities to supervise and regulate internet access in Hong Kong. The new measures criminalize acts that were previously considered protected speech under Hong...

WhatsApp has suspended its processing of requests for user data from Hong Kong law enforcement agencies, in response to China's imposition of a new national security law on the city, reports The Wall Street Journal. The company is "pausing" such reviews "pending further assessment of the impact of the National Security Law, including formal human rights due diligence and consultations with...

Apple is "battling to free stuck shipments" at the Indian port of Chennai after the country ramped up scrutiny of imports from China following rising tensions between the two nations. Reuters reports that customs officers at the Southern Indian port have held back more than 150 shipments of smartphones and electronic parts from China, which has disrupted operations at plants owned by Apple...

Apple has frozen updates for thousands of iOS mobile games on the App Store in China, due to these apps lacking an official license from Chinese regulators (via Financial Times). Previously in February, Apple gave app developers a June 30 deadline to prove they had a license for their games. Now that it's July, Apple said that developers would not be able to update their games without a...

Apple on Wednesday removed popular podcast player Pocket Casts from the App Store in China. According to the app's developers, the removal of Pocket Casts was at the request of the country's Cyberspace Administration, which determined that the app could be used to access content regarded as illegal in China. "We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government...

Apple is dropping prices on the iPhone SE, iPhone 11, ‌iPhone‌ 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max in China in celebration of the 6.18 shopping festival, reports CNBC. Apple has cut prices on its official store on the Alibaba-owned Tmall, and JD.com, an Apple reseller, is also offering significant discounts. This is the second time that Apple has participated in the 6.18 event.On Tmall, users can...

Apple has asked LG Display to urgently supply LCD panels for iPads, following a surge in orders for tablet PCs and laptop monitors in the wake of the global health crisis, reports Business Korea. Apple has recently asked LG Display to supply LCD panels for the iPad fast. LG Display is expected to start supplying them as early as June by operating the production lines at full throttle.Apple...

Apple lost its top spot to Huawei in the Chinese tablet market in the first quarter of 2020 as the health crisis battered local sales, according to a new report today (via South China Morning Post). China's tablet shipments plunged 30 per cent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, based on data from research firm IDC. Huawei was the only brand to see positive...

China could put Apple on an "unreliable entity list" alongside other U.S. companies, in a series of punitive countermeasures the country is prepared to take against U.S. moves to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei, claimed a report over the weekend. According to the Global Times, the Chinese government's mouthpiece, the list would be a first step toward launching a series of...

Apple's main iPhone assembler Foxconn posted an almost 90 percent drop in first-quarter profit on Friday, as the impact of the global health crisis hit production demand from clients (via Reuters). But the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer said the worst was over, and the company would "stabilize in the second quarter," adding that it expects revenue to show double-digit growth in...

In a bid to reduce its reliance on China as a base for operations, Apple could be planning to produce up to $40 billion worth of smartphones in India through contract manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn, reports The Indian Economic Times. Several meetings between Apple's senior executives and top ranking government officials over the last few months have paved the way for the iPhone maker...

Apple shipped around 2.5 million iPhones in China last month, rebounding slightly after one of its worst months in the country on record (via Reuters). Apple sold fewer than 500,000 iPhones in February amid curbs on travel and transport, amounting to an almost 60 percent slump in iPhone sales. Mobile phone companies in general are hoping to see demand recover in China, where restrictions...

From today, iPhone users across China can set up their T-Union cards for Express Transit, Apple's contactless transit payment system. The new support is a result of a partnership between Apple and China T-Union, a contactless transit card currently used in 275 Chinese cities. Express Transit is an Apple Pay feature that allows users to pay fares with a swipe of their ‌iPhone‌ or Apple Watch...

Multiple third-party resellers in China are offering discounts on the iPhone 11 lineup this week, with savings up to an equivalent of $227 off a high-end iPhone 11 Pro Max, according to the South China Morning Post. On JD.com, the 64GB version of the basic iPhone 11 now costs 4,999 yuan (US$708), 500 yuan (US$70) cheaper than the original price. The more expensive iPhone 11 Pro has an even...

Apple has more than doubled its donation to China's virus recovery efforts, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced on Chinese social networking site Weibo today (via Reuters). Apple has now donated more than 50 million yuan ($7 million) to the country, which will be used to support long-term public health recovery efforts.China has shown incredible spirit and resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak...