Apple suspends all product sales in Russia!
Apple announced that it halted its product sales in Russia following the Ukraine invasion.
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| File photo: iPhone 13 Pro |
Apple pauses all product sales and limits services in Russia
The Cupertino giant released a statement saying that it is "deeply concerned" about the Russian invasion and that in response, it has "paused all product sales" in the country. The move does not only affect products as the company also limited access to digital services inside Russia.
The tech giant also restricted the availability of Russian state media applications outside the country. Allegedly, Apple Pay and other services have been limited.
Meanwhile, RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store outside Russia. The company also had disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens.
The Ukrainian government last week had asked Apple to stop offering its app store in Russia, but some security and democracy experts said that that could harm Russian users who are protesting the Kremlin and who rely on Western tools to organize.
About a week ago, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov penned an open letter to CEO Tim Cook:
I appeal to you and I am sure that you will not only hear, but also do everything possible to protect Ukraine, Europe, and finally, the entire democratic world from bloody authoritarian aggression – to stop supplying Apple services and products to the Russian Federation, including blocking access to [the] App Store.
According to a source, Tim Cook sent out an email to employees this morning addressing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the email, he explains the actions Apple has taken in reaction to the events of the past two weeks.
The Apple CEO also pointed out that the company has been in contact with "every employee" based in Ukraine, and is working to help them and their families. Internally, some employees have discussed getting their families out of Ukraine.
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