The instructions not to use iPhones were given to officials by their superiors in recent weeks. Restrictions were also placed on other foreign-branded devices. iPhones were already banned in some agencies, the paper says, but its sources suggested this had now been widened. China is one of Apple’s biggest markets, and iPhones are produced in the country, though recently Apple has increased production in India. Apple has the world’s highest stock market valuation, standing at close to $2.8 trillion. As well as Apple shares falling, shares in some of its suppliers were also hit. Qualcomm, the world’s biggest supplier of smartphone chips, dropped by more than 7% on Thursday, while shares in South Korea’s SK Hynix were around 4% lower on Friday. Shares in Apple have fallen for a second day in a row after reports that Chinese government workers have been banned from using iPhones. Is the United States losing against China ?
