Apple CEO Tim Cook 'secretly' signed $275B deal with China in 2016

Post by beauzero » Wed, Dec 08, 2021, 9:55 PM UTC

pvarangot wrote: post #61

echelon wrote: post #35

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A Reddit comment [1] on this same article really hit home, > Mr. Cook has watched China's middle class grow to four hundred million while watching the domestic middle class shrink. Like GM, which sells more cars in China than the USA, Apple knows where the market opportunities reside. America needs growth again, whether that's immigration, childbirth and childcare subsidies, or seeking to merge with other democratic…

> America needs to onshore manufacturing of critical chemicals and components. Steel. Electronics. I'm all for countries having local manufacturing capabilities. Not just the US. I was also pretty vocal about Argentina having them when I lived there and I'd love the US to have more accessible local manufacturing now that I'm here. Thing is, as much as I can want that as an engineer with a somewhat cozy desk job it's…

Post by topicseed » Wed, Dec 08, 2021, 9:55 PM UTC

gbasin wrote: post #114

ryandrake wrote: post #77

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Anyone who has worked in mapping/GIS at a company that sells in China has seen this in action. The "display these islands larger" requests, the obfuscated coordinate system for geo-aligning maps, and other map content regulatory issues[1] all need to be dealt with if you want your map product available in the country. Not excusing it, but every company with maps there is required to do this, not just Apple. 1: https:…

I compared the same area in apple vs google maps, the islands don't even show up in google unless you zoom way in. You sure about this?

Post by gonehome » Wed, Dec 08, 2021, 9:56 PM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #115

gonehome wrote: post #78

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I think these things have a corrupting influence on the principles of the company over time: https://zalberico.com/essay/2020/06/13/zoom-in-china.html It's better to figure out an exit (imo) than continue to capitulate on these kinds of things, particularly in a country that is hostile to foreign companies and IP (and particularly if one of your company values is the privacy of your users). --- >>Peter Thiel: Well I…

Not disagreeing with what Thiel is saying here, but it's pretty hypocritical for him to be criticizing here considering he's the co-founder of Palantir, a company that feeds some tasty tasty morsels to the surveillance state and military-industrial complex.

Post by Talanes » Wed, Dec 08, 2021, 9:58 PM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #102

qeternity wrote: post #73

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I totally get that people want companies to act with dignity, but the idea that a company, even one as large as Apple, is going to make any sort of difference with respect to China's oddities is wishful thinking. Apple has a business to run. They abide by all sorts of requests in various countries in which they operate. Of course there has to be a line somewhere, I'm just not sure this is it.

I know this would never happen, but I wish companies would just default to not doing business in China, unless they are able to sell their product, uncompromised. I wouldn't mind legislation to that effect, though I'm sure that would come with a ton of unintended consequences. If China (and similar repressive regimes) wants these sorts of products with onerous restrictions built in, they should have to build them the…

Post by ipv6ipv4 » Wed, Dec 08, 2021, 9:58 PM UTC

i_have_an_idea wrote: post #124

ipv6ipv4 wrote: post #50

Daring Fireball [1] has another passage from the article which is illuminating with regards to any promises Apple makes about how it will resist governmental pressure to compromise its products, vis-à-vis Apple's CSAM scanning tool. "Sometime in 2014 or early 2015, China’s State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping told members of the Apple Maps team to make the Diaoyu Islands, the objects of a long-running territorial di…

> Apple has, and will, fold to government pressure faster than a lawn chair. So will any company, when threatened by China. And, btw, so will most countries. Yes, Apple has a lot of money, but they're in no position to resist a powerful country. I don't think it's fair to expect that of them.