[The Epoch Times, October 2, 2022](The Epoch Times reporters Yi Fan and Wang Jiayi interviewed and reported) Not long after Apple launched its new iPhone 14 series globally, Chinese economist Ren Zeping criticized Apple six times in nine days. His remarks have won huge popularity on Chinese social media, but the vast majority are skeptical.
The iPhone 14 series began accepting pre-orders in China at 8:00 p.m. on September 9, and sales were booming. According to the Chinese Communist Party’s official media “Securities Times”, all versions of the iPhone 14 Pro Max were sold out at the two major e-commerce Apple flagship stores around 8:10; The version was also sold out in Apple’s JD flagship store.
Apple sales are hot, but also attracted different voices. On September 20, Chinese macroeconomist Ren Zeping posted a post on the social media Weibo, criticizing the iPhone 14 for not innovating and fooling consumers. The post criticized Apple while praising Chinese domestic brands.
The post said, “At that time, Huawei’s high-end flagship mobile phone was rigid (bar) on the front of Apple (that is, it means confronting Apple head-on), and its performance was several blocks away from Apple. When the offensive was raging, the United States used hegemonic means to contain Huawei’s rise. Otherwise, Apple It is bound to lose ground all over the world.”
The most “liked” comment below his post said: “The performance of the chip is generally open and transparent. You can speak carefully if you don’t understand it. Could you please tell me which model of Huawei’s mobile phone is “a few streets ahead of Apple’s performance”?”
After Ren Zeping was choked, he posted another article the next day, mocking Apple fans for “paying IQ tax”. The post said that Apple phones generally have a large premium in China. Apart from tariffs, exchange rate fluctuations and other factors, a considerable part of the apple price gap between China and the United States belongs to “price discrimination”.
He also said that in Apple’s global pricing strategy, China is considered to have relatively rigid demand, and China’s Apple fans have strong economic strength and blind worship, thus giving Apple more pricing power. Apple believes that Chinese fans are “stupid people and have a lot of money”, so the price increase is much higher than the price in the United States. “This money is not worth it.”
The post still didn’t get much echo, and the comment that received the most “likes” said: “The common people spend their own money, no one is stupid, what is easy to use, and what is worth paying the IQ tax, I know very well.”
Two consecutive posts failed to achieve good results, and Ren Zeping switched to playing the card of “patriotism” on the third day. On September 22, Ren Zeping posted another post saying that buying an Apple mobile phone depends on personal wishes, “but what I want to say is that under the circumstance that the United States continues to contain China (the CCP), excessive pursuit of Apple products is tantamount to giving the United States further progress. Provide bargaining chips to contain China.” “Chinese-made mobile phones are more cost-effective. We should not blindly worship American products.”
However, netizens still didn’t buy it, and the message with the most “likes” said: “I have to consider national interests when I buy a broken mobile phone?”
On the fourth day, Ren Zeping threw out a conspiracy theory post saying: “Has Apple played a bad role in the (China-US) trade friction and suppression of Huawei? If not, why is Apple and Trump so closely related? Pu always praised Apple? Is there any secret deal between you two?” He went on to claim, “This is not a conspiracy theory, don’t be too naive, the world and human nature are more complicated than young people think.”
This remark can neither be confirmed nor falsified. The comments are obviously less than the previous posts. At the same time, the most “likes” are still doubts about him.
Ren Zeping is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University in China. He used to be the deputy director of the Research Office of the Macro Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council of the Communist Party of China, the chief economist of China’s real estate giant Evergrande Group, and the chief economist of Soochow Securities. These resumes have made Ren Zeping quite popular on China’s Internet, and he is called “Internet celebrity economist”, with 3.976 million followers on Weibo.
Ren Zeping’s criticism of Apple for four consecutive days was refuted by netizens, and he posted again a few days later. On September 27, Ren Zeping reposted the news that “iPhone 14 sales are not as good as expected”, and at the same time sneered at Apple. The forwarded article only mentioned the iPhone 14 itself, and did not mention the hot sales of several other models in the series.
He posted another post the next day, re-integrating the views of the previous posts. In this way, Ren Zeping bombarded Apple six times in nine days.
There are also people who support his views, but most of them do not agree, and doubtful remarks abound in the message area. On September 28, China’s pan-tech media platform “Fast Technology” published a signed article refuting Ren Zeping’s views.
Kuai Technology‘s article said that although Ren Zeping’s recent speeches have been very popular, his credibility in the eyes of netizens is getting lower and lower. Occasionally stand up to criticize at the product level, calling on the purchase of Chinese brands to support domestic production, but repeated extreme remarks, the popularity is a bit too obvious.
The article also said that Apple’s lack of innovation in recent years is a fact, but it is also a fact that it is an industry benchmark. Everyone still has to look at it rationally. You can buy any product you like on a daily basis. As an electronic product, it is most important to use it comfortably.
Ren Zeping was also banned
In the first half of this year, Ren Zeping no longer served as the specially invited chief economist of Soochow Securities. He is currently operating a self-media in China, and the attention of the Internet is closely related to his income.
Running a self-media in China is not an easy task, especially as the Chinese economy continues to decline, financial self-media is under pressure from the government. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the top network management agency of the Communist Party of China, has been carrying out “special rectification” of financial and financial self-media since August last year. The official claimed that a number of “black mouth” accounts should be closed, focusing on eight types of problems such as random comments, distorted interpretations, and bad-mouthing China’s economy.
Ren Zeping was also banned. In January of this year, the problem of China’s population crisis was exposed. Ren Zeping posted a post at the time, suggesting that the central bank of the Communist Party of China should print an additional 2 trillion yuan ($280 billion) every year, and use 10 years to encourage society to have 50 million more children. His Weibo and WeChat accounts were both banned for two weeks.
Regarding Ren Zeping’s continuous criticism of Apple this time, Chao Jie, a current affairs commentator living in Japan, said that Apple is a brand of the United States, and Huawei is a brand of the CCP. Criticizing Apple and praising Huawei must be politically correct in China. Ren Zeping once lived within the CCP system, and he knows this well. At the same time, he can also earn traffic. He does so for his own interests.
Responsible editor: Lian Shuhua#