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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Despite an official ban on Russian government workers using the iPhone, an unreliable report says that sales have risen dramatically.
It was in 2023 that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) tried banning government staff from using iPhones. Purportedly, it was because the FSB believed the US was using the iPhone for eavesdropping.
Now according to Reuters, local Russian sources are saying the ban rather failed. While the figures have yet to be confirmed by any other source, the Vedomosti business daily claims that purchases of iPhones from January 2024 to September would four times higher year over year.
[...] That rather dispels any idea that Russian officials are rebelling against the ban en masse. But it also points to how the original ban was seemingly far from a blanket one.
Equally, that destroys the idea that the FSB can be serious in its allegations of iPhone wiretapping. It's always been more likely that any ban is a retaliation for how Apple has ceased directly doing business in Russia since the start of the war with Ukraine.
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday October 30 2024, @01:44PM (1 child)
My first thought was whether the components in the iPhones can easily be repurposed for other things - or, indeed, the iPhones themselves.
There could be a disassembly line removing useful components not obtainable in other ways, or even connecting the iPhone to 'something' that makes use of the built-in iPhone capabilities.
Just a thought. Back to your usual programming now...
(Score: 3, Informative) by Unixnut on Wednesday October 30 2024, @02:00PM
I really can't think of anything in an iphone (or any other phone) that is so hard to get that you would need to disassemble the thing. Plus I think the phones are glued together now, so good luck prying that open without destroying the components in there.
The iphones are pretty much assembled from Chinese parts in China, if Russia really needs some components I am sure they can just buy it direct from China.