During the last week of March, Chinese media assaulted US-based tech giant Apple by severely criticising the company for following a dual warranty policy. According to the media reports, Apple’s warranty policies in China were different in contrast to other countries and the US. The reports claimed that instead of replacing a non functioning iPhone, the Cupertino-based company just repaired it in Chine. However, in other countries including the US, Apple offers a brand new replacement for the broken or not working iPhone. Soon more consumers along with Chinese celebrities also joined this course and Apple started to receive threats of penalties as the situation got worse. As a result of that, the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, decided to come out with an apology in order to defuse the tense situation and unexpectedly the excuse worked for the iOS device maker, as along with the apology he also announced some amendments in the warranty policy for China. In addition to this, the CEO also sincerely thanked the Chinese people for their feedback.
Therefore, Chinese media had to change its aggressive approach towards Apple, as the company put the amended policy into practice from Monday, April 1st. The state controlled channel CCTV also known as China Central Television has broadcasted a report in which the broadcaster said that with the implementation of new warranty policy Chinese consumers will get a new device as a replacement for the broken or not operational iPhone unit rather than getting it repaired.
The head of Greater China and North Asia for risk consultancy firm Control Risks, Kent Kedl said that, “That Timothy Cook had to step up and respond from the CEO’s chair shows the importance of China and how critical it is as a market not just for Apple but for every multinational company here.” Kedl is certainly right because Apple has mentioned in the past that Chinese market is of great of importance to them and Cook also said during last year that China is the fastest growing and second biggest market for his company.
Apart from media, the tune of the Foreign Ministry of China also changed after Apple released Cook’s statement along with the warranty amendments. In fact the Foreign Ministry praised Apple for making the changes in its policy and faithfully responding to the demand of Chinese consumers. Let’s hope that now everything will work smoothly for Apple in China.
Source: iPhoneinCanada
Photo: iPhoneinCanada