How China saved Apple from bankruptcy but now holds the company hostage

An upcoming book Apple in China promises to tell the story of how a seemingly smart idea back in 1996 now leaves the company hostage to the whims of an authoritarian regime.

Subtitled “the capture of the world’s greatest company,” the book features interviews with more than 200 former Apple execs and engineers, and says it acts as both a historical account and a cautionary tale …

We’ve long drawn attention to Apple’s increasingly troubled relationship with China.

First, there is the generic risk of being overly dependent on any one country. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic originated there, and had a massive impact on manufacturing capacity. Anything from a natural disaster to political upheaval could disrupt operations within a single country, so it is always wise to have a diverse range of manufacturing centers around the world.

Second, the relationship between the US and China has often been fraught. The trade war started by the first Trump administration was a particularly low point, but continued tensions mean that there is always a risk of disruptions to trade between the two countries.

Third, it is increasingly damaging to Apple’s reputation to be so closely associated with a country that has a worsening human rights record – especially when the iPhone maker has no choice but to comply with local laws, however much they may conflict with the company’s own values.

Written by Financial Times journalist and set to be published by Simon & Shuster in May, Apple in China promises to tell the “untold story” thanks to interviews with a huge number of company insiders.

For readers of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs and Chris Miller’s Chip War, a riveting look at how Apple helped build China’s dominance in electronics assembly and manufacturing only to find itself trapped in a relationship with an authoritarian state making ever-increasing demands.

Apple isn’t just a brand; it’s the world’s most valuable company and creator of the twenty-first century’s defining product. The iPhone has revolutionized the way we live, work and connect. But Apple is now a victim of its own success, caught in the middle of a new Cold War between two superpowers.

On the brink of bankruptcy in 1996, Apple launched a new strategy to outsource its manufacturing. After experimenting in eight countries, nearly all of its operations were lured to China by the promises of affordable, ubiquitous labour. As the iPod and iPhone transformed Apple’s fortunes, their sophisticated production played a seminal role financing, training, supervising, and supplying Chinese manufacturers—skills Beijing is now weaponizing against the West.

Apple in China is the sometimes disturbing and always revelatory story of how an outspoken, proud company that once praised “rebels” and “troublemakers”—the company that encouraged us all to “Think Different”—devolved into a silent, passive partner to a belligerent regime that increasingly controls its fate.

Pre-publication copies have been shared with a number of best-selling business authors, who have been impressed.

“An extraordinary story, expertly told”
Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford and bestselling author of Silk Roads

“To call this book a page-turner is almost to diminish its importance. It is a once-in-a-generation read.”
Robert D. Kaplan, author of the New York Times bestseller The Revenge of Geography

“Deeply researched, disturbing, and enlightening.”
Chris Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Chip War

“McGee shows us how Apple’s quest for wealth and power in China may in the end be the undoing both of the company and of America’s quest for technology supremacy.”
Rana Foroohar, author of Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and the Fall of American Business

“A masterful and deeply reported portrayal of how Apple gained China and lost its soul.”
Isaac Stone Fish, author of America Second

“Every iPhone owner will want to read this book, but no Apple employee will risk being seen with it.”
Geoffrey Cain, author of Samsung Rising and The Perfect Police State

Apple in China goes on sale on May 13, and is available for pre-order now.