Apple has acted in accordance with instructions from the Cyberspace Administration of China and taken down Meta’s WhatsApp and Threads mobile communication apps from its Chinese online store. Citing reasons related to national security, the Chinese internet regulator prompted this action.
“We follow local laws in all territories we serve, although we may not always agree,” stated Apple. Meta, meanwhile, has not yet provided any comments.
WhatsApp, boasting over 2 billion global monthly active users, and Threads, a subsidiary of Instagram styled like Twitter, were fourth in the global ranking of most downloaded apps in December 2021, as per Appfigures reports.
The exact date when Apple’s China store stopped offering WhatsApp is unknown, but it is confirmed to be unavailable as of the past Friday. However, the App Store in China still provides access to another Meta-owned platform, Messenger, along with the principal Facebook and Instagram apps.
Access to western social media platforms, although officially blocked in China, was previously possible in China. However, this accessibility through iPhones is blocked with the apps’ removal from Apple’s store. The apps can still be downloaded from app stores in other countries and accessed through virtual private networks.
The removals came before a deadline specified by China’s influential internet regulator and the ministry of industry and information technology. From April 1, apps working in China need to officially register with the government, according to Rich Bishop, the CEO of AppInChina, a major international app publisher in China.
Bishop added that the requirement to submit filings is presently being implemented by Apple for Chinese developer accounts and is encouraged to do the same for global services. As Apple begins implementing this, he predicted that hundreds of thousands of applications would be deleted, as only a limited number have successfully filed their apps.
Developers are expected to establish a local firm or utilize a local publisher and host their apps’ back end in the country, Bishop explained, predicting that many organisations would end up offering a second version of their applications in China.
The removal of the apps first came to light in reports from The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, the US Congress is readying for a Saturday vote to ban TikTok, short video app owned by ByteDance, if it isn’t sold to an owner outside China.
A decade ago, the founder of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, made remarkable strides in an attempt to overturn a Facebook prohibition in China. His endeavours included learning Mandarin to converse with president Xi Jinping and embarking on a strongly publicised run through the pollution-filled capital, Beijing. However, his attempts didn’t bear fruit as the firm failed to obtain local operational rights.
Apple, on the other hand, has experienced a slump in its smartphone sales in China, a situation aggravated by heightened rivalry from Huawei in the high-end market sector, and the authorities’ restriction on the usage of its devices amongst government workers. The first six weeks of the year saw a 24 per cent plummet in iPhone sales, as noted in a Counterpoint Research study.
As part of efforts to stir up demand, the tech firm, led by CEO Tim Cook, has been resorting to rare price reductions. Since the pandemic restrictions relaxed, Cook has made several visits to China, meeting suppliers, officials and Apple employees. A testament to the company’s devotion to the Chinese market amidst dwindling sales is the opening of Apple’s largest Asian outlet in Shanghai by Cook last month.
Cook played a vital role in moving Apple’s supply chain away from the United States to China, enabling the production of its key products – iPhones, AirPods, Macs, and iPads in the country. Presently, Apple’s strategy involves diversification of its supply chain, resulting in parts of its manufacturing activities being moved to countries like India.
In the past week, Cook has visited both Vietnam and Indonesia where he engaged in discussions about potential production expansion. – The Financial Times Limited 2024 Copyright