Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

China’s new cybersecurity law took effect June 1, requiring customer data gathered in the country to be stored there as well. Critics in the U.S. and elsewhere have voiced concern that the law could impede the global use of data. Yet other foreign tech companies may follow Apple’s lead.

Apple and the provincial government sign an agreement on the cloud project. (Photo courtesy of the Guian New Area website)

The data center will be Apple’s first in China and enable it to keep offering the country its iCloud services, which allow for easy sharing of files including pictures and videos between iPhones and other Apple devices.

Apple held the No. 4 share of smartphone shipments in China last year with 10%, Beijing-based research firm Sigmaintell Consulting says, growing from the 6% range in 2012. The company’s revenue in China contributes about 20% of its worldwide total.

Apple had sought a place to set up a Chinese data center for cloud services. Guizhou offers a suitable climate and generous government subsidies, while the province’s Communist Party chief, Chen Min’er, is close to President Xi Jinping and rumored to be a candidate for top leadership in the future. Apple appears to have chosen with both the Chinese current leadership and the post-Xi era in mind.

Efforts to regulate corporate attempts to send consumer data abroad are accelerating worldwide. Besides China’s June cybersecurity law, the European Union will enforce a General Data Protection Regulation starting in May 2018 that clamps down on the international sharing of personal information. Japan likewise regulates such actions, and has hinted it may slap dominant companies hoarding improperly gathered data with antitrust measures.

This article was originally published on asia.nikkei.com and can be viewed in full

(0)(0)