Because foreign ownership of online publishing services was banned by Beijing in March, China closed Apple’s online book and movie services. The move is in line with the strict regulation on what could be published on the net.
Apple’s online book and movie services have been available in China for about six months only. However, following the closure of the services, netizens who attempt to visit the iBooks store or iTunes Movies sites would see a message in Chinese that the services are “unusable,” reported Reuters.
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television ordered the shutdown of the two Apple services. In defending the restriction, China said the government must monitor online publishing to battle terrorism and block foreign idea which could be harmful to residents, reported BBC.
Apple is still hopeful the services would be restored. In 2015, Apple also launched a News app which could be used by people who downloaded the app from Apple’s App Stores in Australia, UK and the U.S. However, those who attempt to access it on the mainland would only read the message “News isn’t supported in your current region,” but it could be accessed in South Korea and Hong Kong.
The move gives an advantage to Chinese companies engaged in online book and movie services such as Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent. But it would affect Apple’s revenue in China which is the Cupertino-based firm’s second-largest market.