At least it’s unlikely to be available in China if the official Apple website is anything to go by. The special-edition version of the iPhone 7 and 7plus is previewed on websites in 40 countries, but not in China.
The concept behind the the red iPhone was to allow a portion of profits from sales of the device to go to a charitable body called RED, which was founded by U2 musician Bono and activist Bobby Shriver. Red, in turn, distributes funds to the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, which itself issues grants to various smaller charities and organizations. When launching the new design for the iPhone this week, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO said: “Since we began working with (RED) 10 years ago, our customers have made a significant impact in fighting the spread of AIDS through the purchase of our products, from the original iPod nano (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition all the way to today’s lineup of Beats products and accessories for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.”
The head of the tech giant added: “The introduction of this special edition iPhone in a gorgeous red finish is our biggest (PRODUCT)RED offering to date in celebration of our partnership with (RED), and we can’t wait to get it into customers’ hands.”
Putting aside the degree to which the new iPhone offers a technological advance on previous models (the answer is ‘not greatly’ according to Digital Journal’s review), there are possible political reasons as to why the new red iPhone is not been marketed in China. According to a report by the BBC the reason could be that Apple is looking to navigate sensitivities in China where messages are controlled and because HIV/AIDS remains a taboo topic. The irony is that Apple appears to be eschewing major technological changes with its new product launches and instead fleshing out its ethical values (such as supporting the charity RED) while at the same time giving in to a country that seems to be at best side-stepping the HIV problem and at worst placing its population at risk by not adequately funding HIV awareness. All this is a territory where discrimination against AIDS patients is, unfortunately, common.
