China 'the most competitive market in the world' for the iPhone says Tim Cook Apple CEO Tim Cook called China "the most competitive market in the world" on the back of a somewhat poor quarter for the iPhone. The CEO of the iPhone maker discussed the challenges his company was facing in the Greater China region – that's mainland China plus Taiwan – during Apple's Q2 earnings call. The iPhone business' 10 …
It's a more a lack of innovations to oppose competitors, and overpriced strategy as always, for no worth so tech. Innovations is on the side of competitors as it seems, same goes for hiquality as well. If there are not banned some of the tech tools, the difference will be even bigger, as we all know that.
The problem is that quality doesn't matter when the government bans Apple from government,
Wall Street Journal: China bans use of iPhones for government officials
A source who regularly deals with Chinese central government agencies told CNN that Chinese officials had already been following an unwritten rule of shunning iPhones since before the pandemic despite the apparent absence of a formal policy. The source asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.
The source added that central government officials now tend to use smartphones made by major domestic companies, especially Huawei.
In June 2022, CNN reported that some Chinese government ministries had banned Teslas from entering their premises over security fears.
It strikes me as if there's one very simple solution to this problem - the West needs to make its own phones in its own countries so we know they're safe to use- so not Vietnam, or any country in Asia - but in the US and UK and only employing only Caucasians that have passed security vetting at the very highest level using equipment that has only been manufactured in the West and has never been in any Asian country.
There's nothing stopping the West doing this - certainly no country is sanctioning or penalising the West in any way - why don't they do this?
>assembled in the same factory on a 'fourth shift' from sub-standard parts left over from the other three shifts.
My (admittedly relatively limited) experience of Huawei's phones is that they vary in quality from "first class" to "outstanding", especially considering their price points.
The fundamental problem Apple has isn't quality (very good) or functionality (very good indeed). Its the fact that they're an American flagship, they represent the best that America has to offer. Unfortunately this doesn't play well with an "America" that's attacking your country's economy, suppressing your country's products and openly trying to hold back your country's progress. In fact its quite surprising that the drop in sales is "only" 8% (it was originally reported as somewhat more but accountants are very creative people). This problem isn't Apple's fault, they're just collateral damage.
We really have to get out of this mindset of thinking of the Chinese being a bunch of upstart peasants who just copy everything we do like trained monkeys. They're a bunch of opportunists, sure, but they're also a lot of them, many are very hard working and a lot of them or off the scale clever. Unless we wake up to this fact rather than continually trying to play the wise, all knowing colonialists they're going to end up wiping the floor with us.
Having been on this forum for a while now, I think there's definitely a subset of users on here - and in the world at large - that decide to definitely view China from the viewpoint of negativity.
I've noticed they don't necessarily say anything good about the West, but always talk negatively about "China" at the first opportunity - ir's never the CCP/CPC and the autocratic rule - but "China is evil and Huawei is the best evidence of that".
I've always said I think largely in order to succeed in the future, humans as a whole have to think beyond geographical boundaries. They may have worked for us in fhe formative history of humanity in some shape or form, but if we are to continue to advance, this outdated concept will ultimately hobble us even more than speaking different languages does.
If you do respond by saying anything remotely negative about the West, they'll respond with "oh - is all you can do is bring up x, y, z again" not realising the sheer hypocrisy of that statement when they bring up the CCP/CPC etc etc
I've always maintained that each country - as with anything - has its pros and cons - but this doesn't seem to brook any argument- to some commeentators, China MUST be firmly put in the category as evil (along with Huawei which has been "proved" to hack) (when no evidence has been found when working with a Western Intelligence Agency), and I've really given up trying to convince those otherwise - everybody is entitled to have their view - however reprehensible - and that's theirs - I hope it makes them happy to continue along that mental track and I hope they find comfort in the familiar.
All I do know, is that with this move of manufacturing to supposedly more "friendly" nations - such as Vietnam, India etc - these countries have tasted the beauty of Western colonialism and power - and up to this point of time, have had to take whatever they've been given in terms of treatment - but as they increase their wealth, manufacturing ability etc that balance will change - just as it has done in China - and there will come a time - in a decade or less - where the West will suddenly find the memories of that Western colonialism and power come back to bite them where the sun doesn't shine.
The West could fix all their security, ethical and environemtnal concerns by onsourcing all their manufacturing requirements back to the West, but are slow/loathe to do this as they know there's several downsides to doing this. There's a Professor Niall Ferguson who has written several books on the subject and they're incredibly enlightening.
Let's see what the future brings!
> Having been on this forum for a while now (active under quite a lot of different handles), I think there's definitely a subset of users on here - and in the world at large - that decide to definitely view China from the viewpoint of negativity.
Did you actually mean "there's definitely a subset of users on here (like your good self) that decide to definitely view 'the West' from the viewpoint of negativity, and that are especially active when The Register's articles deal with Chinese spying, ethnic minorities persecutions, dreams of global dominance, political freedom repression or other unethical actions"?
Since these kind of news still make headlines on a daily basis, they have a lot of work on their hands (even during weekends it would seem).
BTW, you might want to lower your expectations with "former colonies" taking over "The West", "in a decade or less". As long as you guys stage one coup per month (with coup perpetrators justifying their power grab to the gullible masses through "post-colonialism" narratives), all your educated elites will keep on seeking refuge in "The West". Which will not exactly benefit these aspirations of economic growth and geopolitical sovereignty. Just saying.
tl;dr: Less whiny-whiny, more worky-worky, and clean your own house before lecturing others!
A phone in the Samsung Galaxy S24 range costs about the same or more than equivalent phone in the iPhone 15 range.
Other phones are cheaper, but Apple mostly doesn't produce phones for those price-points.
If you don't want something at the level of the iPhone 15 or S24, then you do have more options on the Android side, so in that sense, Android can be cheaper.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
