As you’re no doubt aware, the GFC has left most countries facing a variety of economic concerns. In Taiwan (home to companies such as Acer, Asus, and HTC), there’s concern over decreasing exports, with many fearing that this may signal that the world no longer sees the country as a technology powerhouse.
These fears became even more apparent on Saturday when the Taiwanese Information Minister, Hu Yu-wei, used the iPhone 5 as the hero product in a Facebook post encouraging consumption (which should in turn help the economy). Critics slammed the post for using an iPhone 5 over a device from the Taiwanese smartphone giant, HTC, despite the fact that Foxconn – the famous manufacturer of the iPhone – is in fact a Taiwanese company.
Apparently, Taiwanese ministers are quite used to criticism over smartphone choices, and Hu quickly jumped to his own defence stating that he does in fact use a HTC One S as his everyday phone, and that he regularly hands HTC devices to foreign dignitaries as gifts. He did however state that he was ‘considering’ purchasing an iPhone 5.
Some critics posed the question “Can you imagine the South Korean government spokesman speaking out for iPhone 5 on his Facebook page?” - obviously not remembering that US President Barack Obama has been a strong supporter of BlackBerry devices, which are a product of the Canadian company, RIM, thus snubbing the various US brands on offer.
Source: The Verge
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