Countering a Bloomberg report from Wednesday, a new report on Thursday claims Apple wasn’t banned from a list of approved products for purchase by the Chinese government, but instead was simply omitted from a list of energy-efficient devices that some government bodies look to for purchasing new equipment.
According to Chinese language publication Caixin, Apple was not included in a semi-annual “shopping list” of energy-saving products approved for purchase with public money. The last version of the list was published in March as a joint effort from China’s Ministry of Finance and National Development and Reform Commission.
A source familiar with the government appropriations system said the exclusion of Apple from the list may be the result of a simple filing error instead of a formal ban. Caixin makes the guess that appropriate documents proving the omitted Apple products meet government energy saving standards simply weren’t filed.
Even though Apple was omitted from the directory, government agencies that do not have to abide by special energy saving requirements can still purchase Apple products, as long as they follow fair bidding practices.
Bloomberg cited anonymous Chinese officials in their Wednesday report as saying “security concerns” kept Apple’s iOS devices and MacBooks off of an approved government procurement list.
