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Apple CEO Tim Cook is touring Shanghai, China this week, meeting with retail employees, suppliers, developers, the film industry, and others. He has been sharing photos from his trip on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Tim-Cook-Shanghai.jpeg

Cook's visit is timed with the upcoming grand opening of Apple's new Jing'an store in Shanghai on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. local time.

Apple provided more details about the store in a recent press release.

Apple-Jingan.jpg

"Located next to the landmark Jing'an Temple, Apple Jing'an is a must-see destination in Shanghai," said Apple. "Approaching the store through a grove of maple trees that line the upper plaza, visitors are treated to a stunning view of the temple. As customers descend down the stairs, they pass by terracing, double-curved walls that extend forward in a circle to form amphitheater seating that will host Today at Apple sessions specially created for Apple Jing'an to celebrate the community and its creators."

A custom wallpaper with a flower-like Apple logo is available for download for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac on the store's page.

Apple-Jingan-Wallpaper.jpeg

Those who attend the grand opening of Apple Jing'an will receive a custom tote bag, pin, and Apple logo sticker, according to Michael Steeber's weekly newsletter about Apple's retail stores. His newsletter provides a closer look at the store's design.

Article Link: Tim Cook Visits China Ahead of New Apple Store Opening in Shanghai
 

cuiver

macrumors member
Jul 3, 2020
40
227
In 2018, Apple moved its iCloud operations and encryption keys to China. In 2020, Apple opened its first cyber security-based data center in Guizhou, which hosted iCloud services to comply with a new ruling requiring companies to store data in China. The data center is owned and operated by the Chinese government, and state employees manage it and have direct access to the data. They also censor apps to please the government.

Much privacy, Mr. Cook.
 

sw1tcher

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
5,417
18,682
Apple CEO Tim Cook is touring Shanghai, China this week, meeting with retail employees, suppliers, developers, the film industry, and others.

Cook's visit is timed with the upcoming grand opening of Apple's new Jing'an store in Shanghai on Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. local time.
It's being timed with the upcoming grand opening of Apple's new Jing'an store in Shanghai because Tim Cook and Apple don't want people to know the visit is really about the decline in iPhone sales, just like Cook's visit last October.
 

itti

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2019
108
106
In 2018, Apple moved its iCloud operations and encryption keys to China. In 2020, Apple opened its first cyber security-based data center in Guizhou, which hosted iCloud services to comply with a new ruling requiring companies to store data in China. The data center is owned and operated by the Chinese government, and state employees manage it and have direct access to the data. They also censor apps to please the government.

Much privacy, Mr. Cook.
I don't get it. So basically Chinese asked to control their own data. What's wrong with that? I can imagine some Chinese politicians love apple but don't want their icloud backup accessible by CIA. I am pretty sure it's just for Chinese icloud accounts
 

Star Brood

macrumors regular
Feb 8, 2012
151
208
Berlin, Germany
That Roman Coliseum style is very unique for an Apple store. The manufacturing for Apple products - the most important part of the business - is often overlooked by people outside of the country. I doubt that most people would be able to - or willing to - afford this kind of upper-class stature. Apple really should have an economy store and an economical product that they are willing to go to market with. The days of affordable, reasonably-priced electronics from Apple are beyond over.
 

FineWoven

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2023
74
93
In 2018, Apple moved its iCloud operations and encryption keys to China. In 2020, Apple opened its first cyber security-based data center in Guizhou, which hosted iCloud services to comply with a new ruling requiring companies to store data in China. The data center is owned and operated by the Chinese government, and state employees manage it and have direct access to the data. They also censor apps to please the government.

Much privacy, Mr. Cook.
Every company does this in China if they want to operate there. And why wouldn't they, it's a huge market with a billion potential customers. I would be doing all the same things these companies are doing if I were running them in that country. Be glad you don't live there and therefore aren't subject to such draconian overlords. But in the meantime for those who do live there, well, sorry but there's profit to be had.
 

burgman

macrumors 68030
Sep 24, 2013
2,717
2,293
In 2018, Apple moved its iCloud operations and encryption keys to China. In 2020, Apple opened its first cyber security-based data center in Guizhou, which hosted iCloud services to comply with a new ruling requiring companies to store data in China. The data center is owned and operated by the Chinese government, and state employees manage it and have direct access to the data. They also censor apps to please the government.

Much privacy, Mr. Cook.
And that’s different from how many other countries and EU approach tech companies these days? Multinational corporations make choices in multibillion dollar foreign markets. China, we consumers built that
 
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sw1tcher

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
5,417
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It's owned and operated by Beijing Sinnet.
I believe you're confusing the company that operates Amazon's China datacenters


A Chinese company that operates Amazon’s cloud-computing and online services business there said on Tuesday that it told local customers to cease using any software that would allow Chinese to circumvent the country’s extensive system of internet blocks. The company, called Beijing Sinnet Technology and operator of the American company’s Amazon Web Services operations in China, sent one round of emails to customers on Friday and another on Monday.


with the company (Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry) that operates Apple's China datacenters and is owned by the Chinese govt.


Apple has announced it will hand over iCloud operations in China to government-owned local partner Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry (GBCD) on February 28.

Apple has made the move to comply with Chinese government policy, that demands domestic operators own foreign services' data centres so that data on Chinese citizens is stored within the country.



Unless something has changed recently...
 

tridley68

macrumors 68000
Aug 28, 2014
1,750
2,513
Rubbing elbows with the locals and kissing a little butt gotta keep those business wheels greased 👍
 

coolfactor

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2002
7,070
9,743
Vancouver, BC
In 2018, Apple moved its iCloud operations and encryption keys to China. In 2020, Apple opened its first cyber security-based data center in Guizhou, which hosted iCloud services to comply with a new ruling requiring companies to store data in China. The data center is owned and operated by the Chinese government, and state employees manage it and have direct access to the data. They also censor apps to please the government.

Much privacy, Mr. Cook.

Details are important.

Only Chinese iCloud data is hosted in China, not all of iCloud.

Do you really trust American governments more than Chinese? It's a question worth pondering.
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,731
1,903
Lard
In 2018, Apple moved its iCloud operations and encryption keys to China. In 2020, Apple opened its first cyber security-based data center in Guizhou, which hosted iCloud services to comply with a new ruling requiring companies to store data in China. The data center is owned and operated by the Chinese government, and state employees manage it and have direct access to the data. They also censor apps to please the government.

Much privacy, Mr. Cook.
If you wanted to sell products in any country, would you comply with national laws or leave the country?
 

victorvictoria

macrumors 6502
Oct 15, 2023
446
493
So what's going to happen when China invades Taiwan and nationalizes Taiwan Semiconductor? Where will Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung and all the other players in the AI field source their chips? (TSMC currently supplies 90% of all the semiconductor chips in the world, including Nvidia's brand-new Blackwell). Will China continue to sell them to their adversaries, or will they sequester everything for themselves or possibly exponentially raise prices to offshore clients? Taiwan Semi is currently in the planning stages of building a massive assembly plant in Arizona, but it's been plagued with delays, and now looks to begin production somewhere between 2025 and 2027, depending on what media source you read. China isn't going to wait that long to get their hands on that property.

More to the point, how will Apple be able to stock their shiny new store in Shanghai with new iPhones & other hardware if they can't get memory for them? Who do you think makes Apple's M series silicon? TSMC, that's who!
 
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Jumpthesnark

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2022
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California
I believe you're confusing the company that operates Amazon's China datacenters


A Chinese company that operates Amazon’s cloud-computing and online services business there said on Tuesday that it told local customers to cease using any software that would allow Chinese to circumvent the country’s extensive system of internet blocks. The company, called Beijing Sinnet Technology and operator of the American company’s Amazon Web Services operations in China, sent one round of emails to customers on Friday and another on Monday.


with the company (Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry) that operates Apple's China datacenters and is owned by the Chinese govt.


Apple has announced it will hand over iCloud operations in China to government-owned local partner Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry (GBCD) on February 28.

Apple has made the move to comply with Chinese government policy, that demands domestic operators own foreign services' data centres so that data on Chinese citizens is stored within the country.



Unless something has changed recently...
You're correct, Apple's China iCloud servers/infrastructure are hosted by GBCD, which is state-owned.
 
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