No iPad's in China!

1.    What is the link to Crisis Management?

Shenzhen Proview Technology had all iPad’s taken off the shelf in the Xinhua district as even though Apple purchased the rights from Proview Taipei, the mainland company says its still owns the name in China. This is a potential crisis for the company as iPad’s are a large proportion of their sales.

2.    What stage of Crisis Management does the system appear to be at?

The system appears to be at the cusp of an issue towards a risk. Given the earlier incident on the lack of availability of iPhones and now having their iPad’s removed from shelves poses potential risk that they will lose large shares of the Asian market.  If such issues continue to pile up, this can cause a potential crisis for Apple. Especially from a brand management perspective, turning customers away from Apple products completely and shifting loyal customers to purchasing other products as a result of lack of trust and credibility in Apple is a potential concern. 

3.    How well does the system appear to be handling the situation?

The system seems to be handling the situation poorly.  The authorities in more than 20 cities have begun to destroy promotional materials that violate its trademark. Further, calls to Beijing and Shanghai commercial bureaus have not been answered so the company does not have further information. In addition, when asked the spokesperson in Beijing has declined to comment. They should have at minimum provided some statement to the public.

4.    What level of crisis preparedness does the system appear to have?

    The system does not seem to be prepared and therefore receive a level 1. There is no crisis communication plan in place in China and they seem to lack control over all of the situation. Further, no information has been given to the public and it seems that Apple did not see this coming since they purchased the rights from Proview Taipei.

5.    What personal reactions/feelings does the description trigger in you?

It was interesting to learn that the iPad name was registered in China first and that Apple did not have the rights to this initially. Further, it is interesting to see the cross-bordering issues at play. While the rights were purchased in Taiwan, they were not in China came as a surprise to me.  Overall, I was surprised to see all the issues that Apple is facing despite the fact that general public reputation is that the company is doing well. No doubt, even when you are at the top there will be issues that potentially can become crises that companies need to plan

6.    What advice would you offer to those involved?

I would suggest Apple have business continuity plan in place to learn from this situation and to be able to ensure operations return back to normal as soon as possible. I would also suggest a more cohesive integration between teams, as there was no response from commercial bureaus, Apple should have a government relations department to manage this relationship, especially in a country that has so much regulation. (E.g. censorship of materials)


Article Source: 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/chinese-confiscate-apple-ipads-in-name-dispute/article2336231/