As if yesterday’s Snickers drama around Taiwan wasn’t enough, it has been revealed Apple plans to remove ‘Made in Taiwan’ stickers from products being sold in China.
The change, which will see Apple products made in Taiwan labelled as ‘Made in China’, appears to be designed to comply with strict customs rules in China. The restrictions have been instituted following US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi visited the Taiwan capital earlier in August.
The timing of this announcement, and subsequent backlash, couldn’t have come at a worse time given the imminent release of the iPhone 14. The new product was already delayed earlier this year thanks to covid resurfacing, and may end up being pushed back further by the increasing tensions in the region.
This isn’t the first time Apple has landed in hot water over its handling of the China-Taiwan relationship. Back in 2019, the tech company removed the emoji of the Taiwan flag for users in China and Hong Kong.
So Apple effectively “cancels” Russia when they invaded Ukraine, yet tells Taiwan to suck China’s 🍆 because it would ruin their supply chain 🤣
Classic Silicon Valley virtue signaling
Apple: Sorry Taiwan, you can’t be liberated yet 🙄 https://t.co/Y9hmCCOcWG
— Nick Fabrio (@longhorncapital) August 6, 2022
@Apple tryna be “low key” disrespectful . If it wasn’t for Taiwan there wouldn’t be this increble innovation at your greedy trillion dollar finger tips. forever, MADE IN TAIWAN 🇹🇼
— Tim M (@McCormickTrades) August 8, 2022
It’s interesting that Apple would be this keen to shore up their production and sales in China given that they aren’t as big as other brands in the region – in Q1 2022, Apple was the third biggest seller behind Vivo and OPPO, and was only narrowly ahead of HONOR (formerly partnered with Huawei).
