Could China be about to take a big bite out of Apple’s iPhone business?

Rumours suggest that the Chinese government is ready to bear down on the US tech giant in the latest tit for tat move with the US – getting caught in the middle of diplomatic rift could cost the world’s most valuable company dear, writes Andrew Griffin

(AFP via Getty Images)

China has long been a sore spot for Apple. The iPhone maker's significant presence in the country as both a manufacturer and retailer means it has faced sustained criticism and even danger.

Critics have questioned its complicity in the poor conditions of the people who make its devices there, the way that it is forced to compromise the security of Chinese iPhone users and much more besides.

But China has been gloriously profitable for Apple, too, which is presumably why the two have continued their relations even amid those difficulties. For most major technology companies, including Google and Facebook parent company Meta, the difficulties have been sufficient that they have largely avoided being involved in China, though both tried. Apple has been different, in part because of the complicated business of actually making physical goods.