What is Chinese Market Access Worth to Western Companies?

China loves Apple, Inc. almost as much Apple, Inc. hearts China. One can almost imagine the physical embodiment of the world’s most populated country and the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization holding hands and skipping along a sun-drenched beach at dusk before ducking into an intimate restaurant to share a la of spaghetti a la Lady and the Tramp.

And so it comes as only a mild surprise to learn via the New York Times (and subsequently any news website with an eye on China) that the Apple News app, currently only available to users in the U.S., does not work in China, the app disabled not by order of the Chinese government but instead a decision made by Apple management, according to the NYT. Curious. Most articles on the topic contained words such as “appeasement” and “kowtow,” painting a picture of Western companies willing do anything for profit. Shocking, I know.

Apple is far from the only company who is feeling the pinch as China’s middle class market expands. LinkedIn was fiercely criticized for its decision to censor China-centric content first globally but then revised down to only in China after a PR firestorm forced their hand. LinkedIn CEO openly admitted to the Wall Street Journal that while they were against censorship, they valued the size of the market first and foremost (paraphrased; for full quote visit here).

Evernote is another company that has decided the Chinese market is worth more than their ideological soul, and I cannot blame them. When it is your job to make money, the China market is truly a company’s Great White Buffalo. Uber has played nice with the Chinese government regarding data collection, although not much has come of this to date, and Facebook co-founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been meeting with a number of Chinese internet luminaries, including head of the General Office of the Central Leading Group for Internet Security and Informatization, Lu Wei. Not to say that such meetings mean Facebook will be in China anytime soon, but one tech analyst was quoted as saying Facebook in China “is a matter of ‘when,’ not ‘if.’”

Apple likes to paint itself as revolutionary, a champion of certain rights led by uber progressive CEO Tim Cook, but what message does it send when market forces win out over ideology? This is not China’s fault; they have their system, and they make no apologies for it. Fair enough. And these companies are, like all companies, in the business of making money. As such, China is a key ingredient in their revenue soup. But when these companies that deal in information and make comments about being for an open internet yet at the same time eyeing China greedily while licking their lips, it smacks of hypocrisy of the highest order.