China bans iPhones for government use

iPhone and other foreign technology devices are now banned for use by Chinese government employees. As of now it is not known if this ban is actually enforced, but there are reports that employees are recommended to switch to local smartphone brands.

More agencies and state affiliated companies are expected to have similar bans soon.

There are varying reports on how much this ban might affect iPhone sales in China. Analysts predict sales drop from 500k (which has almost no impact) to 20M units.

The Wall Street Journal: China Bans iPhone Use for Government Officials at Work

Reuters: China moves to widen state employee iPhone curbs

Bloomberg: China Seeks to Broaden iPhone Ban to State Firms, Agencies

Reference:

• China bans government officials from using iPhones at work
• China widens ban on officials using iPhones but isn’t enforcing it
• China’s iPhone ban expected to expand to more government agencies soon
• China Expanding Government iPhone Ban
• 20M iPhone sales could be lost to China ban and Huawei competition, analysts forecast
• China’s iPhones ban seen as effort to restrict Apple’s access to market
• China government iPhone ban will have almost no effect on sales, says analyst