• by Thom Forbes  @tforbes, April 2, 2013

All it takes to get Apple to flat-out say it’s sorry about something, it turns out, is to get the full force of the Chinese Communist Party behind a “Strike Down Apple’s Incomparable Arrogance” campaign.

“Apple boss Tim Cook has apologized to Chinese consumers after state media accused the firm of arrogance, greed and of ‘throwing its weight around’," the BBC reports.

It all started on March 15 with China Central Television (CCTV) accusing Apple of not offering replacement iPhones if major repairs are needed during the one-year warranty period. Then the People’s Daily piled on. Under the headline cited by the BBC above, it wrote: “Here we have the Western person's sense of superiority making mischief. If there's no risk in offending the Chinese consumer, and it also makes for lower overheads, then why not?”

In addition, the China Consumers Association wants Apple to classify the iPad as a computer. “Why?” asks GigaOm’s Erica Ogg. “Because if Apple’s tablet is reclassified, it will mean the device will have to come with a standard two-year warranty like all other computers sold in the country. Currently, the iPad comes with a one-year warranty, the same policy Apple has in almost all other regions.”

The San Jose Mercury News’ Patrick May runs translated excerpts from Apple’s rather lengthy posting here, including the following words from Cook: “In the process of studying the issues, we recognize that some people may have viewed our lack of communication as arrogant, or as a sign that we didn't care about or value their feedback. We sincerely apologize to our customers for any concern or confusion we may have caused.”

Engadget’s Richard Lai bulletpoints the "Three Guarantees" law (repair, refund and replace) Cook has promised to implement in China.

“Cook's apology, unusual though not as rare as during his predecessor Steve Jobs' tenure, highlights the importance of the market for Apple,” write Reuters’ Terril Yue Jones and Poornima Gupta. “The country is typically the brightest spot in Apple's quarterly financial statements. Revenue from Greater China -- which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong -- totaled $7.3 billion in its fiscal first quarter, up 60% from a year ago.”

There has been some speculation that -- not unlike the “Sweep away the U.S. aggressors” rally in support of Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang last week -- the show of popular support was orchestrated and nudged along by the Authorities.

“Several online bloggers, for instance, noted that Chinese celebrities who posted online shortly after the television broadcast on March 15 seemed not to be doing so spontaneously, but at the urging of the state broadcaster. The suspicions arose after one celebrity’s post ended with the line: “to publish around 8:20 p.m,” David Barboza and Nick Wingfield write in the New York Times.

“Other analysts speculate that the continuing media blitz against Apple is aimed at showing what the government can do to American technology giants, even those as successful as Apple.”

The Associated Press says that the attacks against Apple, even if they did elicit contrition from Cook, didn’t really resonate with most Chinese shoppers. 

“The attacks quickly backfired,” reports Christopher Bodeen, “and were mocked by the increasingly sophisticated Chinese consumers who revere Apple and its products. State-run media also inadvertently revived complaints over shoddy service by Chinese companies.” 

To be fair, Apple has admitted a mistake from time to time, if seemingly from behind gritted teeth. Bloomberg BusinessWeek’sTom Giles lists other sightings of Apple’s crow eating at the end of his coverage of the China issue. Not that everyone buys it.

“I see. So Cook didn't actually apologise for Apple being arrogant, greedy, and exploitative. He just apologised for appearing arrogant, greedy, and exploitative,” Richi Jennings, who compiles “IT Blogwatch” for Computerworld, tweeted and repeated in a roundup titled “Tim Cook grovels to China: Apple's on-bended-knee apology.” 

“Also, when's he planning on apologising to the rest of the world?” Jennings asks.

In any event, all seems well to the East this morning.

“Sometimes, sorry is good enough…,” a Reuters video report on Nasdaq.com tells us. “The state-run Global Times in an editorial said Cook's move was the right one and deserved credit from Chinese consumers and the media. But Apple's loyal fans never seem to have swayed.”

Which usually seems to be the case in any language, truth be told.