It is reported that more state-owned and government enterprises are now subject to China’s iPhone prohibition.

The action, which began in September with a few government agencies in Beijing and Tianjin, has now expanded to “at least eight provinces,” according to Bloomberg, signalling a major uptick.

More Chinese government-affiliated companies and agencies have issued orders to their employees to cease bringing iPhones and other foreign gadgets to work within the last two months. Officials are pushing its staff to utilise regional smartphone brands instead.

China has purportedly put national security ahead of commerce and investment, taking a number of steps to reduce its reliance on foreign brands.

Even if the nation is working harder to depend less on foreign enterprises, it still actively supports homegrown businesses like Huawei, which is situated in Shenzhen.

Chinese authorities voiced concerns about security events involving Apple’s phones in September, but they denied that Apple phones were banned from government offices. They have not yet responded to the most recent events, but it is expected that they will.

Apple’s market dominance in the nation has also been damaged by the progressive replacement of American goods with Chinese software and hardware over time.

Smaller businesses and government organisations in China’s less affluent areas had separately issued guidelines earlier this month, hinting at a wider trend to come.

Over the past two months, at least eight provinces’ worth of cities have reportedly placed orders, including wealthy ones like Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Anhui, northern Shanxi, Shandong, Liaoning, and central Hebei.

rs, it still actively supports local businesses like Huawei, which is situated in Shenzhen.

Due to their exclusion from portions of the largest mobile market in the world, Apple and other foreign tech companies such as Samsung face significant challenges as a result of China’s iPhone ban.

In particular, Apple makes almost a quarter of its sales in China, where it also sources the majority of its devices. The manufacturer of iPhones may have growth issues in light of China’s most recent move.

The iPhone embargo in China has previously been described by the US government as “inappropriate retaliation.”

It is unknown how many government organisations have issued orders prohibiting the use of iPhones, as well as how often these orders are generally. Organisations are likely to differ in how strictly they enforce internal directives; some may forbid the use of Apple products outside of the office, while others may severely limit their use.

Apple, a massive American electronics company, depends largely on China for both manufacturing and sales, despite the worsening US-China ties.

The device ban is in line with China’s long-term objective of achieving self-sufficiency by doing away with foreign technology in critical areas.

Recall that in 2022, Beijing ordered state firms and central government organisations to swap out their foreign-supplied personal computers for domestic models within a two-year timeframe. This was a bold attempt to remove foreign technology from industries that deal with sensitive data.

China’s purported iPhone ban, however, will only apply to government organisations and state-sponsored businesses, not to regular people who wish to buy iPhones.

Nonetheless, it highlights a purported divide between China’s attempt to control the sector and its future economic opportunities.

Businesses were already shifting their investments and manufacturing away from China, including Apple; the embargo might hasten this transition.

Foreign IT companies considered China “uninvestable” in August, according to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, because of the country’s becoming more unfriendly business environment.

(Adapted from NewsBiteApps.com)