On the morning of March 23, apple made a strong response, saying that the after-sales service standard was high and in line with Chinese regulations.
On March 25, the people's daily issued its first article questioning Apple's after-sales service. Within the next five days, people's Daily published a series of articles and editorials, among which the article "beat Apple's incomparable arrogance" pushed the whole public opinion to a climax.
On March 28, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the General Administration of quality supervision, inspection and Quarantine of the people's Republic of China successively stated that apple must make corrections or be severely punished. With the intervention of government agencies, the situation gradually expanded.
Facts have proved that CCTV can not be provoked, and the consequences are extremely serious. According to the latest report of Citibank, China's negative publicity reports on apple at the national level are now in the third week, which may damage Apple's sales by $13 billion.
In fact, apple is not the first company to suffer similar embarrassment in the Chinese market. The sales of Yum group (part of KFC), which was negatively reported by Chinese TV media in December last year, fell by 20% in January and February compared with the same period last year. As early as 1999, Toshiba, a Japanese electronics manufacturer, was also bombarded for offering different policies to Chinese and American customers. Since then, Toshiba has lost its position as the largest notebook manufacturer in the Chinese market.
As the Citigroup report points out, "in 2010, HP suffered the same blow in the Chinese market, resulting in a 50% reduction in its PC share in the Chinese market. In 2012, Apple's revenue in China accounted for 16%, and in the past two years (2010-2012), Apple's revenue growth rate in China was 24%. If Apple loses 50% of its share in the Chinese market, the loss to apple is equivalent to $13 billion in revenue or $3.62 per share loss. We are worried about this because it may affect Apple's market share advantage. '
Cook's statement of apology cheered the Chinese people. He even thought that Apple had finally "yielded" to the Chinese market, which proved that it was just wishful thinking.
Shi Shuicai, vice president of the Chinese information society of China, believes that this is a compromise move made by cook following the example of the "Tumen" incident, and its purpose is to continue to make money. 'it's the CEO who apologizes, not apple. Why not continue to earn your money after apologizing? Apple fans don't need to be indignant. Don't forget that making money is his highest goal. '
The past two years have not been easy for apple. The newly released products, such as iPhone 5 and iPad, have been accused of lacking new ideas. The stock price of Apple has dropped from a high of more than $700 to more than $430, which is no longer the favorite of the capital market. Apple may see its first net profit decline in 10 years in the latest quarter as its market advantage in competing with mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung has shrunk significantly.
For all this, cook, as the CEO, can't bear the pressure. China is the second largest market after the United States. He doesn't want apple to be "occupied" in the Chinese market. Apple's revenue in China rose 67% to $6.8 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2013, the first time the company has reported sales in China alone. During cook's visit to China in January this year, he said that he expected China to become Apple's largest market at some time in the future. Obviously, he realized that the Chinese market could not be provoked. In this case, it is not difficult for cook to make an apology.
In the past 17 days, Apple has been pushed to the forefront of public opinion by CCTV, people's daily and other major official media since CCTV's 315 evening party exposed that Apple's maintenance policy was suspected of discriminating against Chinese consumers. From silence, evasion, tough response, to today's public apology, apple finally made a change. However, this change is not "yielding", but Cook's compromise under various pressures. To put it bluntly, it's just a strategy. It's all for the sake of profit.
Attachment: full text of Cook's open letter:
Dear Chinese consumers
In the past two weeks, we have received a lot of feedback on Apple's repair and warranty policies in China. We not only deeply reflected on these opinions, carefully studied the "Three Guarantees" regulations with relevant departments, but also examined the communication mode of our maintenance policy, and sorted out our management standards for Apple authorized service providers. We are aware that due to the lack of external communication in this process, the outside world thinks that apple is arrogant and doesn't care or pay attention to consumer feedback. We sincerely apologize for any concerns or misunderstandings caused to consumers.
In order to further improve the service level, we are implementing the following four major adjustments:
&Middot; improve iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S maintenance policy
&Middot; provides a concise and clear explanation of repair and warranty policies on Apple's official website
&Strengthen supervision and training of Apple authorized service providers
&Middot; ensure that consumers can easily contact Apple to feed back service related issues
At the same time, we also realize that there are still many things we need to learn about operation and communication in China. Here, we would like to assure you that Apple's commitment and enthusiasm to China are the same as those of other countries. To bring the best user experience and satisfactory service to consumers is not only our ideal, but also our commitment. It has been deeply rooted in Apple's corporate culture. We will make unremitting efforts to achieve this goal.
IPhone 4 and iPhone 4S maintenance policy improvements are as follows:
So far, both iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S have been repaired in one of three ways: if a problem is found within 15 days from the date of purchase, we will refund the consumer or replace an iPhone with a recalculated one-year warranty; if a problem is found after 15 days, Apple will replace the relevant parts, such as camera module or battery, according to the specific situation; if a problem is found after 15 days, Apple will replace the iPhone with a new one-year warranty; If the iPhone can't be repaired quickly by replacing parts, Apple will provide consumers with a partially reassembled device with brand new parts and only keep the back cover of the consumer's existing iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S.
Nearly 90% of our customers are satisfied with our repair service, and consumer satisfaction is also the most important measure of Apple's success.
However, some people suggest that the maintenance method of partial reassembly is close to the replacement of the whole machine, so it will be more beneficial for consumers to directly replace a piece of equipment. As a result, since April 2013, Apple has upgraded the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S service packs to replace all devices with new components and recalculate the one-year warranty from the date of replacement.
If a consumer's iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S has been repaired by Apple or an Apple authorized service provider using a partial reassembly kit, we will treat it as a complete replacement and provide a 1-year warranty for the repaired iPhone from the date of repair. Apple's warranty system has been updated, so affected consumers do not need to take any additional action.
Now, all consumers can see clear and comprehensive repair and warranty policy terms on our website.
We are happy to provide information to consumers who want to know more about after-sales service. For example, we have been offering a two-year warranty on motherboards and other major components of MacBook Air and other Macs. Similarly, the main parts of the iPad always have a two-year warranty, while other parts have a one-year warranty.
We realized that our website had not clearly stated these policies before. I hope the following can answer all questions about Apple's services.
Apple is making greater efforts to ensure that Apple authorized service providers follow our policies and strive to provide the highest quality service to consumers.
Within a week from March 18, 2013, we have issued new training materials to all Apple authorized service providers in China to ensure that everyone who provides services for Apple products is familiar with not only our policies, but also the "Three Guarantees" regulations and related policies. At the same time, we have taken the initiative to verify and ensure that each Apple authorized service provider has set up training courses through face-to-face talks and other forms to update employees' knowledge of maintenance and warranty policies. We will make unremitting efforts to continuously monitor the performance of Apple authorized service providers to ensure that consumers can get the highest quality service.
Now, the problems related to feedback service are also very convenient.
If consumers have questions about the services provided by any apple store retail store or Apple authorized service provider, please visit www.apple.com.cn/support/service/feedback/ Contact us directly. Our goal is that consumers can enjoy a world-class user experience no matter where they buy Apple products or receive services.
Thank you for your valuable feedback. We always have great respect for China. Chinese consumers are always the top priority in our hearts.
Tim Cook
Apple CEO