[Beijing Diary] Patriotism is Patriotism, iPhone is iPhone

On the morning of the 22nd, I headed to Sanlitun, Beijing, to cover the sales scene of Apple’s ‘iPhone 15,’ while imagining various scenarios.

Considering the precedent of banning civil servants from using iPhones at work, I wondered if the people gathered that day would be somewhat intimidated and cautious. Given the momentum of boycotting foreign companies that touched on sensitive issues such as human rights or Taiwan independence, would there be voices of criticism directed at the young people standing in front of Apple? Would someone wave the Oseonghonggi (Chinese national flag) or the Communist Party flag, finger-pointing them as followers of an American brand, or even throw eggs? What face would the patriotism of China, often considered blind by many, show that day?

On the morning of the 22nd at 8 a.m., the first day of offline sales of Apple's 'iPhone 15' series in China, visitors are filming the countdown event in front of the Apple flagship store in Sanlitun, Beijing, China. (Photo by Kim Hyunjung)

The scene I arrived at was quite different from the thoughts that kept running through my mind. Just like Apple fans around the world show when a new iPhone model is released, the atmosphere in front of the store was festive. Hundreds cheered as the countdown began. A 17-year-old male student, who had lined up from 1 a.m. and stayed up all night to be the first to enter, walked into the store to the applause of the staff. He wore a confident expression and seemed to enjoy the attention. The store employees and visitors, who were my interview subjects, opened up more easily than expected. Even when asked about Huawei or patriotism, they readily shared their thoughts.

Although limited to young people in their teens to early 30s, the iPhone seems to have firmly established itself as a perfect luxury item in China. They neither felt self-conscious nor apologetic to the country about consuming the sleek and fashionable brand image. Buying it simply because they liked it?nothing more, nothing less.

Wanghong (internet influencers), who are like YouTubers in Korea, expressed negative opinions about the iPhone 15 on site and showed support for Huawei. A young woman, dressed flamboyantly, briefly appeared shouting ‘Huawei’ while filming the scene, but the store visitors largely paid no attention.

While China is undoubtedly a socialist country, what I confirmed that day was that not all tendencies and decisions are controlled. At least for products released by private companies in the market, consumers’ judgments receive a minimum level of respect. For example, civil servants are advised to refrain from using iPhones, and efforts are made to reduce the visibility of iPhones on social networking services (SNS) or portals exposed to the public, but still, those who want to buy them cannot be stopped. The government does not intervene with the young generation who think patriotism is patriotism, and iPhone is iPhone.

From this perspective, interpreting Huawei’s success simply as ‘patriotism’ causes noise in understanding the market. Of course, recalling the pressure and hardship our companies faced during the 2016 deployment decision of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, it is hard to say China’s decision-making process is rational. However, it is also not rational to dismiss and belittle all outcomes China produces, trapped by the ghosts of that time. The greater the gap between reality and judgment, the larger the error in our strategy becomes.