Apple has decided to stop selling its products in Russia. The company is thus responding to the current war in Ukraine. The company has also taken other measures as a result of the Russian invasion.
An Apple spokesperson said in a previous statement Apple has already said it is “very concerned” about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and that it has taken multiple measures, including “pausing” sales of all products in Russia. That position was reiterated in an email from Apple CEO Tim Cook published by The Verge, among others.
The e-mail repeats that other, more detailed steps have been taken. For example, the operation of Apple Pay has been restricted and the same applies to other services of the company. In addition, Russian media such as RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store in Russia. The Cupertino company has also decided, following Google, to no longer display information about traffic in Ukraine from Apple Maps. Google previously also came up with measures to ban Russian state media from its platforms.
With this move, Apple joins a growing line of companies that decide to suspend their operations in Russia. For example, the automaker Ford indicated to cease its activities in the country until further notice and Walt Disney and Warner Bros previously indicated that they would no longer release new films in Russia for the time being.