"How Dare You Use Huawei" Apple, Indian Closeness Sparks Outrage Among Chinese Netizens

Apple, amid supply chain diversification efforts,
"Better to leave China" complaints arise

Apple is putting significant effort into the Indian market. It is allocating iPhone production to its Indian factories, and CEO Tim Cook visited India for the first time in seven years. Apple's moves seem to be upsetting Chinese netizens.

The Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 20th (local time) that Chinese netizens are becoming increasingly sensitive to Apple's move away from China.

Earlier, on the 19th, CEO Cook met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, the capital of India. It was reported that during this meeting, Cook mentioned that Apple would continue investing in India.

After the meeting with the Prime Minister, Cook posted on his Twitter account, "Thankful for Prime Minister Modi's hospitality," and "We are working hard to grow and invest across India." He also visited Indian government ministries to discuss additional employment and expansion of local manufacturing.

Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the opening ceremony of the Apple store in New Delhi, the capital of India, on the 20th (local time).
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

Amid escalating US-China trade tensions, Apple is striving to break away from its Chinese supply chain. In the past, iPhones were produced at the Chinese factories of the Taiwanese manufacturing outsourcing company Foxconn, but now a significant portion of orders is directed to India.

Foxconn is also building a large factory in India to keep pace with this trend. Apple itself continues to invest to attract Indian customers. Recently, Apple opened its second Apple Store in New Delhi.

In this regard, the US financial media Wall Street Journal (WSJ) evaluated, "After nearly 20 years of relying on China, Apple is diversifying its supply chain, with India emerging as a key destination."

However, Chinese netizens feel betrayed by Apple's move away from China. Despite China being Apple's largest market, they claim that Apple is neglecting them in pursuit of market diversification.

According to SCMP, on Chinese social networking services (SNS) such as Weibo (the Chinese version of Twitter), netizens posted comments like, "Cook's attendance at the opening ceremony means prioritizing the Indian market," "Apple should leave China," and "Let's buy Huawei products."

The Chinese government is also reportedly wary of overseas companies leaving China. The media reported that at a China Development High-Level Forum last month, attended by CEO Cook and other global corporate executives, Chinese authorities urged that "China is a reliable provider of the global industrial and supply chains" and called for not participating in decoupling.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.