The Chinese government has removed several prominent US tech companies, including Apple, from its list of approved vendors for state purchases, Reuters reported today. The change is hardly unexpected following the government’s response to accusations several years ago that the US National Security Administration had been using backdoors in Apple products to spy on users.
Some sources cited by Reuters say that the change may not necessarily have anything to do with security, and may instead be designed to help local companies pick up a larger portion of the government tech market. By cutting off competition from big foreign competitors, the government effectively makes local choices the only choices for many products. The security concerns, among others, could in fact be a smokescreen to cover the Chinese government’s true intentions.
Other companies dropped from the list include Intel, McAfee, and Cisco Systems. In the process of updating the list, China has allowed state purchases from many local companies, with the total number of approved vendors rising to nearly 5,000. Overseas tech companies on the list, however, were cut by a third, lending credence to the idea that this was a move to help bolster local business.
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If China has a tech company more competitive than , U.S. will be very likely to find some excuse to ban it as well
China should be thankful for Apple and american companies. I would ban chinese copycat crap.
NSA is not a shortcut for National Security Administration – its a shortcut for National Security Agency
When correcting others, it is best to use correct verbiage yourself. What is a word ‘shortcut?’
Come on Troy! You’re being difficult. Don’t you know an abridgiation when you see one! haha!
Seems a logical choice to me. Why support foreign companies, while you can support your own country’s economy
Note, this is only for ‘state’ purchases not a ban on their general public from buying Apple devices.
While I’m sure a desire to bolster local business is at play, I have no doubt that fallout from the shady surveillance programs is at play as well. Our tech companies, which were once seen as among the best in the world to facilitate secure computing, have had their reputations trashed thanks to the activities of our over-zealous and over-reaching government.
This has set the stage for competitors coming onto the scene in foreign markets that might not otherwise have had much of a shot at existing had the reputations of our tech companies not been trashed by shady government surveillance programs. This is one stretch of a road to hell paved with good intentions. Will intelligence previously gathered under the programs prove to outweigh the long term losses as foreign software becomes more commonly deployed? Given the current state of the world, I highly doubt it.
For this and other reasons, I’m glad that Apple seems to have expanded its lobbying operations in Washington and I hope that their more pro-active role there will involve a lot of “big picture” painting to help people see past their own noses. But even if they did, it will take decades to restore our tech company’s global reps, if it can even be done at all at this point.