We’ve been hearing about an alleged boycott of the iPhone in China after the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. However, despite the calls for a boycott, it appears Huawei has forgotten to instruct its public relations representatives about it because they were caught using an iPhone.
Huawei caught using an iPhone
MKBHD video blogger Marques Brownlee, who has pointed out such missteps in the past, caught Huawei’s PR group using an iPhone to promote its brand. Brownlee noticed that the @Huawei Twitter account posted a New Year’s greeting via the official iPhone Twitter app.
That was fast pic.twitter.com/y6k0FJF7Gq
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) January 1, 2019
As was expected, the tweet was quickly removed, but the damage had already been done. Screenshots of the tweet went viral, prompting all sorts of reactions from users worldwide.
Although this is not such a grave mistake, it still is an embarrassing situation, especially considering the alleged iPhone boycott. Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested recently in Canada for allegedly violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran. After the arrest, Nikkei reported that Chinese companies were instructing their staff to boycott the iPhone. According to the news outlet, many companies are offering discounts on Huawei phones to encourage employees to buy Huawei phones. Some even reportedly threatened employees with termination for iPhone use.
It is not just iPhones facing a boycott; Huawei is also facing a sort of unofficial ban by the U.S. government. Washington is also reportedly encouraging U.S. allies to stop using the Chinese company’s phones and network equipment.
“Huawei is effectively an arm of the Chinese government, and it’s more than capable of stealing information from U.S. officials by hacking its devices,” Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said in February 2018.
Even though Huawei is the second-biggest maker of Android phones, it holds only a small share of the U.S. market. Like other Android phone makers, it also depends on unit volumes.
Slip-ups from other phone makers
This is not the first time an Android phone maker has been caught using an iPhone. Samsung has been caught doing the same thing on several occasions. For instance, the Korean firm was caught using an iPhone to promote the Galaxy Note 9 in December.
A few years ago, Spanish tennis player David Ferrer did the same thing when he tweeted about the Galaxy S4, saying, “Configuring S Health on my new #GalaxyS4 to help with training @SamsungMobile.” Even T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere promoted Samsung Mobile’s Note 3 phablet using his iPhone 5s.
This is not the first time Huawei has made this mistake. About a year ago, the company’s brand ambassador Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, endorsed the high-end Mate 10 Pro using her iPhone. It has happened with other Android phone makers as well.
In 2017, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza tweeted, “Not rly a techie, but totally love using the OnePlus 3T the past few months. More in my story onepl.us/a5 #oneplusstarcommunity.”
Unfortunately, the tweet was posted using an iPhone.
In 2013 after reports that Apple was biased against Chinese consumers when it comes to its warranty and customer service policies, many celebrities and well-known personalities came forward to criticize Apple, but many of their tweets were posted via iPads and iPhones.
One incident happened with BlackBerry as well when Alicia Keys, who was the company’s creative director at the time, tweeted from her iPhone. The tweet was later removed, and she claimed that her account had been hacked.
Android makers aren’t always the ones at fault in this type of situation. In 2012, Oprah Winfrey endorsed Microsoft’s Surface using a tweet sent from an iPad.
Rare slip-ups from Apple
Some very rare mistakes have come from Apple’s side as well. In November, the Apple Music Twitter account replied to a tweet from Ariana Grande using an Android device. It was a rare slip-up from Apple, and many would say it wasn’t even a slip-up as Apple Music is available on Android devices as well. However, it still was embarrassing for Apple, which has avoided such situations before.
The tweet from Apple Music got over 4,500 retweets and 28,600 likes. Apple can’t be blamed for this incident entirely. The company may have used a third-party marketing firm to operate its social media accounts. Thus, it is possible that an Apple employee didn’t post it.
