In the last month or two, numerous state-owned enterprises and government departments spanning at least eight provinces have directed their employees to use locally produced brands.
Bloomberg News reported on Friday that various Chinese agencies and state-backed companies nationwide have instructed their employees not to bring Apple iPhones and other foreign devices to the workplace. This move aligns with China’s long-standing effort, spanning over a decade, to reduce dependence on foreign technologies. State-affiliated entities, including banks, have been encouraged to transition to local software, and there has been a push to promote domestic semiconductor chip manufacturing.
Despite Reuters’ request for comment, Apple did not provide an immediate response. In September, Reuters reported that staff in at least three ministries and government bodies were instructed not to use iPhones at work.
Apple’s shares experienced a marginal decline to $196.50 in extended trading. The tech giant has been diversifying its production away from China, with a recent report indicating the allocation of product development resources for the iPad to Vietnam. Collaborating with China’s BYD, a key iPad assembler, Apple aimed to move new product introduction (NPI) resources to Vietnam for the first time, with engineering verification for test production of a new iPad model scheduled to begin around mid-February and the model expected to be available in the second half of the following year.
In October, Chinese e-commerce platforms, including Pinduoduo and Taobao, offered substantial discounts on Apple’s latest iPhone 15 series, with some models priced up to CNY 900 ($123 or roughly Rs. 10,229) below the retail price. Analysts noted that the iPhone 15 had not performed as well in China as its predecessor, with Counterpoint Research reporting a 4.5 percent decline in sales compared to the iPhone 14 in the first 17 days after its market launch in October.