China Mobile reportedly won’t sell iPhone 15 amid local government ban

A WSJ report earlier this week revealed that China’s government was aiming to ban the iPhone from Chinese government companies. However, Bloomberg later reported that the ban might lengthen past that. And primarily based on a brand new report, China Mobile – the nation’s wi-fi service – won’t have the iPhone 15 out there to its clients.

Anti-Apple motion may have an effect on iPhone gross sales in China

According to Mark Gurman, Apple is attempting to keep away from a disaster just some days earlier than the worldwide launch of the iPhone 15. The firm has not solely been coping with an iPhone ban amongst Chinese government staff, but in addition competitors with smartphones from local manufacturers and a “resurgence in Chinese nationalism” main clients to keep away from international gadgets.

This is just not the primary time that iPhone gross sales in China have been affected by political points. Back in 2019, Apple noticed iPhone XR and XS gross sales plummet within the nation amid the commerce conflict between the US and China. The firm was in a position to get better from this state of affairs in 2021 and 2022, however evidently issues obtained worse this 12 months.

As the US government nonetheless insists on scrutiny of Huawei, one of many largest Chinese tech firms, in addition to ByteDance’s TikTookay (one other Chinese firm), anti-Apple sentiment “has spread on Chinese social media.”

To make the scenario worse, rumors recommend that China Mobile won’t have iPhone 15 models out there on the market, which may change into a serious concern for Apple, since China is at present probably the most vital markets for the corporate. However, in actual life, there’s nonetheless no sturdy proof that clients are literally switching from the iPhone to local smartphones in China.

Bloomberg notes that regardless of the disputes between the US and Chinese governments, the Asian nation has no incentive to ban the iPhone completely within the nation, since Apple nonetheless offers thousands and thousands of jobs within the nation, and this may find yourself affecting the local financial system.

While China Mobile denies that the corporate has plans to cease promoting iPhones, Apple declined a request for remark.

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