In the last week the Chinese Government have ousted Apple’s movies and book stores following advice from their regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
American Tech companies have always had issues with expansion in China, although Apple bucked this trend with more freedom. Both stores were introduced only about six months ago, so they’re relative new-comers. Apple have recently been able to introduce the Apple pay service in the country and the App Store with iTunes Music – all still fully functional on Chinese soil.
Apple, like many other tech companies, are keen on expansion within the Chinese market as it’s the second biggest after the US. Although no actual reason has been made public for the shut down, it is believed that the government are quite keen to monitor and control the type of content that people have access to and hence the move. This cascaded into the shares of the world’s most valuable company, falling down by 3.8% in the last week. This is the worst since January. Apple have stated that they are trying to re-instate these services, but it’s anyones guess on the Chinese future and whether its other services would start falling foul in the future.
We shall keep track of events and add any updates as they become available.