Is Apple Kowtowing to China?

By Charlotte Gao
01 August 2017

Excerpt

Earlier in July, to comply with China’s Cybersecurity Law, Apple announced it would open its first data center in China.

An Apple spokesman in Shanghai told Reuters that China’s regulations “require cloud services be operated by Chinese companies,” so Apple will not only open its data center in China but partner with a Chinese data management firm — Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd — to offer iCloud. It’s noteworthy that Apple is the first foreign firm to announce amendments to its data storage to comply with China’s regulations, according to Reuters.

As China — currently Apple’s second largest market — is becoming the company’s most important market, no one doubts Apple CEO Tim Cook’s enthusiasm for China. However, one of the most important reasons that fans remain loyal to Apple’s more-expensive-than-average products is its idealism, which Steve Jobs implanted into the company long time ago. Let’s recall Apple’s best-known commercial, launched in 1984: “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like [the novel] 1984.”

Now, 33 years after the year of 1984, are we going to see 2017 become a bit more like 1984 — with Apple’s assistance?

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