Yesterday, Bloomberg broke the news – or rumor, rather – that China has implemented an Apple products ban. The report started strong with “China’s government excluded Apple Inc. iPads and MacBook laptops from the list of products that can be bought with public money because of security concerns, according to government officials familiar with the matter.”
Bloomberg’s report continued to provide details:
Ten Apple products — including the iPad, iPad Mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro — were omitted from a final government procurement list distributed in July, according to officials who read it and asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Quite understandably, Apple-related sites picked up quickly on the report. Even major news outlets cited Bloomberg, including Reuters and CNBC.
Then came the pin the pricked the bubble.
As MacDailyNews succinctly words it, “No, China has not ‘banned Apple products from government purchases’“. The site debunks Bloomberg’s report based on an article published on Chinese news site, Caixin, which clarifies that “Apple failed to enter the Chinese government’s shopping list, but the Chinese government has not banned the purchase Apple products, Apple simply failed to proved the necessary information for inclusion into the energy-saving products in government procurement list.”
In other news: Forensics Expert Says Apple May Have Admitted to iOS Backdoor
Additionally, the article quotes an official saying that the reason Apple didn’t make the list NOT because of security reasons, which is what has been going round.
So yeah, the Apple products ban of the Chinese government is nothing short of a hoax. Don’t believe everything you read. Here’s a good related read, though: Anatomy of a rumor: Did China really ban 10 Apple products?
