China

Apple CEO Tim Cook has written to employees defending the company's controversial decision to pull an app used by Hong Kong protestors to coordinate gatherings and avoid large concentrations of police. Apple removed HKMap Live from the App Store on Thursday following the app's approval last week, which itself only came after an internal review of the company's original decision to reject it....

Apple has pulled an app from the App Store that Hong Kong protestors have been using to track police movements, saying it violates the company's guidelines and local laws. Apple approved HKmap Live last week after reviewing its decision to initially reject the app from the ‌App Store‌. However, on Wednesday Apple was criticized by Chinese state media for its decision to make the app...

Apple has come under attack from China for allowing an app in its App Store that is being used by Hong Kong protestors to track protests and police movements in the city state (via The Guardian). Last week we reported that Apple was reviewing its decision to reject the HKmap Live app from the ‌App Store‌ while it investigated whether the software violates local laws. HKmap Live has been used...

Apple has reportedly banned an app that allows Hong Kong protestors to track protests and police movements in the city state, despite increasing international condemnation against the violence used by the authorities. According to The Register, Apple has told the makers of the HKmap Live app that it can't be allowed in the App Store because it helps protestors to evade the police. "Your app ...

Last year, Apple announced the launch of a $300 million Clean Energy Fund in China to connect suppliers with renewable energy sources. Apple and 10 of its suppliers in China will invest nearly $300 million by 2022 to develop projects totaling one gigawatt of renewable energy. In a press release today, Apple said that includes three wind firms in Hunan and Hubei that will generate...

Apple and manufacturing partner Foxconn have admitted to recruiting too many temporary staff in one of the world's biggest iPhone factories, following a report from a non-profit advocacy group alleging harsh working conditions (via Bloomberg). China Labor Watch (CLW), which investigates conditions in the country's factories, published its report on Sunday accusing the two companies of...

Last week we reported on Google's discovery of an old iPhone vulnerability – now fixed by Apple – that enabled malicious websites to steal data from thousands of users over a two-year period. Google described these attacks in its original blog post as "indiscriminate," however a report over the weekend by TechCrunch suggests the websites were part of a state-backed attack that specifically...

Apple CEO Tim Cook and U.S. President Donald Trump met for dinner on Friday evening, and Trump has since told reporters that the two discussed the impact of U.S. tariffs on Apple products imported from China. Melania Trump, Donald Trump, and ‌Tim Cook‌ in August 2018 Trump said Cook "made a good case" that tariffs could put Apple at a disadvantage given that rival Samsung's products would be...

Apple's stock has surged around five percent after the United States Trade Representative announced that an additional tariff of 10 percent on approximately $300 billion of Chinese imports will be delayed to December 15 for products such as cell phones, laptop computers, and monitors, per CNBC. Moreover, the USTR said certain products are being removed from the tariff list based on "health,...

Thanks to trade-in programs and other promotions, Apple saw significant improvement in iPhone sales in China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said today during today's earnings call covering the third fiscal quarter of 2019. Cook said that Apple saw "great improvement" in China, returning to growth in constant currency in Greater China with improvements in year-over-year ‌iPhone‌ performance compared to...

Apple has asked the Trump administration to exclude components for the new Mac Pro and various accessories like the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad from being subject to a 25 percent tariff on Chinese imports, according to filings with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative uncovered by Bloomberg. The administration has promised relief if companies can show that parts or products can...

Apple has announced the opening of a new Design and Development Accelerator in Shanghai as part of an effort to support engineering talent and boost growth in China's iOS developer community. Located in Pudong District, the Accelerator is being launched to give Chinese developers a chance to work closely with Apple experts to enhance their app development skills, learn how to take advantage...

Apple intends to launch a new iPhone for the budget-conscious Chinese market that features an under-display fingerprint sensor instead of expensive Face ID technology, Chinese media sources have claimed. According to Sino-based English-language paper The Global Times, Apple will release the new "tailored ‌iPhone‌" in the country to arrest declining sales, which have been worsened by cost...

While the current Mac Pro has been manufactured in Texas since it was released in 2013, The Wall Street Journal reports that the new ‌Mac Pro‌ unveiled earlier this month will be assembled by Quanta Computer in China. Quanta is said to be ramping up production of the new ‌Mac Pro‌ at a factory near Shanghai, and given lower wages and closer proximity to other Apple suppliers in Asia, the...

Apple has urged the Trump administration not to proceed with tariffs of up to 25 percent on a fourth set of goods imported from China, which would impact nearly all of its products, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirPods, Beats, HomePod, batteries, repair parts, and more. In a letter sent to United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer [PDF] this week, Apple...

With the U.S.-China trade war seemingly showing no signs of slowing down, a new report claims that Apple is getting serious about diversifying its supply chain in an effort to reduce its reliance on Chinese manufacturing. iPhone disassembly robot Daisy Specifically, Apple has asked several of its major suppliers to evaluate the cost implications of shifting 15 to 30 percent of their...

Apple today announced its earnings results for the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2019, and ahead of the company's upcoming earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some remarks on Apple's results with CNBC. According to Cook, Apple's performance in China improved over the previous quarter and saw greater strength towards the end of the quarter. A sales tax cut in the...

Apple's iPhone sales in China were down 30 percent during the first quarter of 2019, according to new shipment estimates shared today by Canalys. Apple shipped an estimated 6.5 million iPhones during the quarter, marking its worst decline in two years. It shipped fewer smartphones in the country than Chinese vendors Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Huawei, coming in as the number five brand in China. ...

Apple has lowered the prices of several products in China this week, including the latest iPhones, iPads, and AirPods. As noted by CNBC, the iPhone XR now starts at 6199 RMB on Apple's online store in China, nearly five percent lower than its previous 6499 RMB price tag. The higher-end ‌iPhone‌ XS and ‌iPhone‌ XS Max models each received a 500 RMB price cut as well and now start at 8,199 RMB ...

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China this week ahead of the annual China Development Forum that promotes economic growth in the country. Cook was photographed at an Apple Store in Beijing's central Wangfujing shopping district on Thursday, where he attended a music-related Today at Apple session. On Friday, Cook met with developers and visited the Palace Museum, which has an ARKit-based app that...