Beijing takes a bite out of Apple

Apple has apologised to Chinese consumers over the group's warranty policy in order to quell a fortnight of hostile publicity. In mid-March state television claimed Apple's iPhone after-sales service discriminated against Chinese consumers. Apple initially ignored the accusations, which prompted other state media outlets to criticise the company.

China is Apple's second-biggest market. In the fourth quarter of 2012, it accounted for 13% of the group's $4.5bn in sales. Retail sales there have reached $3.3trn, and at this rate could be three times higher by 2020.

What the commentators said

This episode appears to have done Apple little harm, said Richard Beales on Breakingviews. The allegations were vague so it was easy for Apple to give an apology "in the we regret any misunderstanding' vein". It will alter some warranties but there has been no big change of policy.

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And "social media traffic suggests today's worldly Chinese [tech consumers] won't be swayed by what seems to be state-orchestrated media criticism".

But why did Beijing decide to pick on Apple? It could be retaliation for America's clampdown on Chinese tech firms in response to recent state-sponsored hacking. But the more likely explanation is "China's obsession with censorship", said a Wall Street Journal editorial.

Apple's software ecosystem is difficult to penetrate and it recently began to encrypt searches and downloads. "Pressuring tech giants to accept censorship is part of Beijing's operating system" witness its campaigns against Google and Microsoft.

It hardly helps, as Jamil Anderlini noted in the FT, that Apple's success in China is a constant reminder that there are no "similarly innovative and powerful consumer companies" in the Middle Kingdom, even though the government has tried to cultivate innovation for decades. In any event, Apple "has found out the hard way that it must toe the line" with the Chinese authorities.