China expands ban on iPhones for government use, including local officials

According to The Wall Street Journal, China has now begun to impose bans on government officials from using iPhones and other devices from foreign brands over security concerns.

The original report by The WSJ states that the ban was imposed on central government agencies to not use Apple’s iPhones and other foreign-branded devices for work nor bring them into the office in a move to cut China’s reliance on foreign technology and enhance its cybersecurity.

Moreover, in recent news, the ban has now extended to local governments in China as well as the ban on the use of both the Apple Watch and AirPods, as reported by CNBC.

This would be a blow to Apple both as a manufacturing partner and a big market for its products as China had become the world’s largest iPhone market in the Q2 of 2023 accounting for 24% of all iPhone shipments, while Apple’s US market stood at 21% according to The South China Morning Post 11.

What’s more, is that the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max were reportedly two of the most popular devices in China back in October 2022. All this has led to Apple shares falling by as much as 6% wiping out USD 200PHP 11,737INR 16,950EUR 190CNY 1,456 billion of value in the stock market just two days after the report of the ban was made public.

The ban similarly mimics the USA’s ban on Huawei and its technologies in the country as well as the ban on using Chinese-owned TikTok amongst government officials.

In the midst of all this, Apple is set on having its iPhone 15 event “Wonderlust” 10 later today while Huawei had just recently announced a new flagship smartphone ahead Apple’s event with the Huawei Mate 60 Pro Plus 34.