China Flags Safety Problems With New iPhone 15 Fashions, Restricts Use in Authorities Departments

China flagged safety issues with iPhones whereas saying it is not barring purchases, the federal government’s first feedback on the subject after information reviews that authorities are transferring to limit the usage of Apple merchandise in delicate departments and state-owned corporations.

“We noticed that there have been many media reports about security incidents concerning Apple phones,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning mentioned Wednesday at an everyday press briefing in Beijing, with out elaborating. 

China plans to broaden a ban on the usage of iPhones to a plethora of state-backed corporations and companies, Bloomberg News has reported, an indication of rising challenges for Apple in its greatest overseas market and world manufacturing base. Several companies have begun instructing workers to not carry their iPhones to work. 

“China has not issued laws and regulations to ban the purchase of Apple or foreign brands’ phones,” Mao mentioned, including that the federal government attaches “great importance” to safety and that each one corporations working in China must abide by its legal guidelines and rules.

Mao’s feedback about safety incidents had been barely completely different within the official English translation of the information briefing. That translation, delivered concurrently onsite by the ministry, omitted the reference to media “reports.” Foreign affairs ministry briefings are usually rigorously managed and spokespeople’s responses are often scripted forward of time. 

The press convention got here simply hours after Apple unveiled its newest mannequin of the marquee gadget, the iPhone 15. The firm unveiled 4 new fashions, conserving tempo with the previous few generations: the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. 

If Beijing goes forward with an iPhone ban, the unprecedented blockade would be the end result of a yearslong effort to root out overseas expertise utilized in delicate environments, coinciding with Beijing’s effort to cut back its reliance on American software program and circuitry.

It threatens to erode Apple’s place in a market that yields a few fifth of its income, and from the place it makes nearly all of the world’s iPhones via sprawling factories that make use of tens of millions of Chinese.

© 2023 Bloomberg LP

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