A list of 10 Apple products, including the MacBook Air, iPad and iPad mini, have been dropped from a list of devices and services that Chinese government agencies can officially procure, according to a report by Bloomberg News.
According to government agencies familiar with the matter, the devices were purportedly taken off the list because of security concerns, the news service reports. (Smartphones are not included on the list, so the iPhone wasn’t included in the first place.)
Sales in Greater China made up about 16 percent of Apple’s revenue last quarter, and the government’s move to exclude Macs and iPads from its official procurement list could hurt sales of the company’s products to businesses and other large companies in the Middle Kingdom.
The move comes less than a month after a report on Chinese state-owned television claimed that the iPhone was a security risk. Apple isn’t the only American tech company to come under fire from the Chinese government, either. Microsoft, IBM and Oracle have all been targeted for one reason or another as well.
Microsoft in particular has been hounded by Chinese regulators. The company’s offices have been raided twice in the past two weeks over suspected violations of antitrust law. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have banned government officials from purchasing Windows 8 using official funds, citing security concerns. Microsoft, for its part, has vehemently denied accusations that the company intentionally made its products less secure.
All of this comes after the U.S. Justice Department indicted 4 members of the Chinese Army who are allegedly responsible for hacking into computer systems at a number of U.S. companies and stealing corporate secrets. The Chinese government threatened retaliation over the indictments.
