Two months after China ordered the closure of Apple’s online book and movie services, the Cupertino-based tech giant was hit by another whammy in the Asian giant.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the Beijing Intellectual Property Bureau ordered Apple China to stop selling its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus for breaching a patent held by a Chinese firm. However, the order, dated May 19, covers only the capital city of China.
In view of the legal problem, some Apple stores in Beijing had stopped since late May selling the two models and instead offer the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Shenzhen Baili accused Apple of violating its patent of its 100C smartphone because of the similarity of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models external design.
The order by the bureau is the reverse of Apple’s legal victories in other countries, particularly against competitor Samsung, which the company co-founded by Steve Jobs accused of breaching its patents of smartphone designs.
The bureau’s order could affect Apple’s second quarter income as falling iPhone sales caused the company’s first quarterly decline in China in the first quarter of 2016 in 13 years, noted CNBC.
With this development, Apple may need to make another investment in a Chinese company – as what it did in May when it announced it would invest $1 billion in Didi Chuxing Technology, a ride-hailing company – to get in the good graces of Chinese authorities, hinted analysts.
But in a statement issued on Friday, Apple said that beside appealing the bureau’s decision, the two models and iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone SE models are still available in China because it appealed the decision and the administrative order was stayed while the bureau’s decision is being reviewed by the Beijing IP Court.