Apple denies its iPhone poses a threat to Chinese national security

Shortly after reports surfaced accusing Apple iPhones of posing a threat to Chinese national security, the U.S. company rebutted charges lobbied by state media. The iPhone location-tracking function is unable to identify the phone owner's activities, and instead is utilized to help speed up applications based on phone owner location.

"Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services," an Apple statement claims. "We have also never allowed access to our servers. Apple does not track users' locations - Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so."

China has notoriously made it difficult for western companies to do business in the surging market - pressuring companies into changing features, adhering to sometimes questionable guidelines, and doing little to prevent intellectual property theft. However, companies are determined to cater to Chinese users, with a large number of first-time smartphone owners.