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China Refutes Report That It Banned Government Purchases of Apple Products

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Apr 12, 2001
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Earlier this week, a Bloomberg report claimed China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance had prohibited government purchases of Apple hardware. While we acknowledged in our initial report that there was dispute about the reason for Apple's omission from the list, China's Central Government Procurement Centre, the finance ministry, and Apple have all come forward to officially refute the Bloomberg report (via Reuters). According to the official statements, Apple never intended to be on the procurement list in question.

macbook_air_iphone_ipad.jpg
At the center of this controversy is a procurement list for energy-saving products and is one of several similar lists issued by the government. Chinese government officials said Apple has not submitted the necessary paperwork for inclusion on this energy-saving products list. Apple also confirmed in an emailed comment that it has never been on that particular list.
"Even though Apple has the certification for energy-saving products... it has never provided the necessary verification material and agreements according to the regulations," said a Finance Ministry fax sent to Reuters on Thursday evening, a statement closely mirrored by the Central Government Procurement Centre in their own announcement on Friday.
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Government agencies reportedly are still free to purchase Apple products even though they don't appear on this energy-saving list. Most of the products included in the supposed ban still appear on the Central Government Procurement Centre website, though they were offline temporarily this week for a routine price adjustment.

China is a growing area of opportunity for Apple with the company expanding its retail presence rapidly in the country. Apple now has eleven retail stores in the country and has partnered with China's three major wireless carriers, including China Mobile, which is the world's largest carrier by subscriber numbers.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: China Refutes Report That It Banned Government Purchases of Apple Products
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/08/08/china-apple-ban/
dlewis23

dlewis23

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Oct 23, 2007
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Would be a hard hit for Apple and its stock if it actually happened.
 
nagromme

nagromme

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May 2, 2002
12,546
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Bloomberg Refutes Report That It Banned So-Called "Journalism" in Favor of Lazy Ad Bait
 
mainstreetmark

mainstreetmark

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May 7, 2003
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Before everyone starts making fun of China, remember, they supply our computers, pencils, tvs, sofas, grass, paper, lumber, meat, rubber, light bulbs, clothes, fruit, batteries, mattresses, silverware, carpet, water, dishwashers, tools, toothbrushes and deodorant. And other stuff.
 
Tankmaze

Tankmaze

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Mar 7, 2012
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Chinese government officials said Apple has not submitted the necessary paperwork for inclusion on this energy-saving products list. Apple also confirmed in an emailed comment that it has never been on that particular list.
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So it's not actually banned Apple products but more of a administrational problem. Apple never submitted to be one of Chinese government vendor.
just a misunderstanding.
 
dlewis23

dlewis23

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dannyyankou said:
Government employees only make up .4% of China's population. It would have hardly any impact.
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It would still be bad news out of China one of Apples most important markets and the media loves to pick up on bad news for Apple in China.
 
W

wovel

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Mar 15, 2010
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dannyyankou said:
Government employees only make up .4% of China's population. It would have hardly any impact.
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Probably roughly the same as Apple employees and workers making Apple products in China. I think China would be hurt more if Apple moved all their manufacturing to South America than Apple would be hurt by the Chinese government not buying Apple products.
 
UnfetteredMind

UnfetteredMind

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Jun 6, 2012
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localoid said:
The first sentence in that article seems to sum it up:

"When Bloomberg News runs an iffy story that makes Apple look bad, so does the rest of the tech press."​
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And you could probably replace "Bloomberg News" with any other blog or news site and it would still be accurate :)
 
Solomani

Solomani

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It seems like every day, there is some new reason (news, events in China) that would give Apple more and more incentive to gradually (and eventually) move its manufacturing out of China.

Notice that I said the words gradually, eventually. I understand that it would be suicide for Apple to suddenly stop doing business in China.

IMHO, one of Apple's weaknesses is that they put all their manufacturing in one fragile basket (China). IMHO it would be better in the future, although it might decrease their margins and profits a wee bit, to spread out their manufacturing/assembly to several other countries, not to mention bringing some of it back to the States (e.g. the Mac Pro).

China is simply a politically unstable nation to do business with. Yes it can be a lucrative market, but it can go ballistic and become an overnight enemy of the USA. Just like Putin's Russia —— a heavy trading partner one day, then a vicious and aggressive Cold War foe the next.
 
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Eraserhead

Eraserhead

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Solomani said:
It seems like every day, there is some new reason (news, events in China) that would give Apple more and more incentive to gradually (and eventually) move its manufacturing out of China.
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But this sounds like a non story as Apple didn't supply the right documentation.

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Solomani said:
China is simply a politically unstable nation to do business with. Yes it can be a lucrative market, but it can go ballistic and become an overnight enemy of the USA.
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I guess you must be in favour of a full trade embargo on Israel as they've just slaughtered 1500 civilians.

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wovel said:
Probably roughly the same as Apple employees and workers making Apple products in China. I think China would be hurt more if Apple moved all their manufacturing to South America than Apple would be hurt by the Chinese government not buying Apple products.
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As all electronics are made in that part of the world I don't think that it is likely they'd move their factories very far.
 
Solomani

Solomani

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Eraserhead said:
I guess you must be in favour of a full trade embargo on Israel as they've just slaughtered 1500 civilians.
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If the Israeli government is acting all passive-aggressive against the United States, then I consider it an unstable trading partner, yes.

Is Netanyahu acting all passive-aggresive with the US Government? Cozying up to US government one day, and then chastising and blasting US foreign policy the next. Does the Israeli leader act like that? Gee, I wonder. ;)

But I never implied any "full trade embargo" on China. That's your fiction. I merely said that Apple should not be dependent on a single manufacturing base. Putting your eggs in one basket, as the saying goes.
 
Eraserhead

Eraserhead

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Solomani said:
If the Israeli government is acting all passive-aggressive against the United States, then I consider it an unstable trading partner, yes.
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They are mass slaughtering civilians at the drop of a hat.

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Solomani said:
I merely said that Apple should not be dependent on a single manufacturing base. Putting your eggs in one basket, as the saying goes.
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That's probably sensible, but all you're going to do is to pick somewhere else in south east asia to do it.
 
charlituna

charlituna

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Jun 11, 2008
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so the news is that China claims not they didn't ban Apple.

hmm, could it be that no they didn't. Or that they did but they don't want it getting out. Based on the lack of sources either is possible. But really does it matter that much. They allegedly banned purchasing by government offices, not everywhere. How many allegedly lost sales is that. If they had banned sales of Apple products in China that would be a hit but come on. Our own President has been and probably still is forced to use a Blackberry for phone calls. Is this any worse.
 
Gasu E.

Gasu E.

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Mar 20, 2004
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Eraserhead said:
They are mass slaughtering civilians at the drop of a hat.
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Perhaps you should actually read the entire news article, not just scan the tabloid headlines. If you consider Hamas firing rockets into their country "dropping a hat", then I suggest you avoid headgear altogether. You might put live munitions on your head in error, which would be extremely hazardous to you and others.
 
Eraserhead

Eraserhead

macrumors G4
Nov 3, 2005
10,434
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Gasu E. said:
If you consider Hamas firing rockets into their country "dropping a hat", then I suggest you avoid headgear altogether.
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When Hamas rockets have killed 20 civilians over the past decade (source) compared to the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians (source 1, source 2), then comparatively it is "dropping a hat".

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Gasu E. said:
Perhaps you should actually read the entire news article, not just scan the tabloid headlines.
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If you believe Israel's response to Hamas is proportionate, it sounds like you (and those +1ing your comment) are the one who hasn't followed the story in enough depth. Perhaps you should try reading some non-US sources.
 
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