Comment by blahgeek
3 months ago
I think it's a common term used to loosely describe the geographical region. It's used by many other companies like Microsoft [1] and Google [2]
[1] https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/locations/gcr.htm...
[2] https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-apac/collections/gre...
It's a large step up from "it's used for job postings in (or closely working with) mainland China", to "it's featured in Apple product announcements targeting a global audience of millions".
Has it been used in an Apple product announcement before? My search is imperfect, but I actually can't find an example (on their /newsroom subdomain).
As recently as two months ago, with the Airphone announcement, they weren't doing this:
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/09/introducing-iphone-ai... ("Introducing iPhone Air, a powerful new iPhone with a breakthrough design")
> "The 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max will be available in Canada, China mainland, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, the Philippines, and the U.S."
Apple seems to have been using "Greater China" for a number of years, going by the newsroom section of their site.
2016 - "Users in Greater China will see these new features by default on iOS and OS X® after updating."
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2016/05/17Apple-Celebrates-Ch...
2019 - "The New Artist of the Week program provides new talent with a prominent platform across greater China for their work to be discovered."
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/01/HomePod-available-in-...
2020 - "First, I want to recognize Apple’s family in Greater China. Though the rate of infections has dramatically declined, we know COVID-19’s effects are still being strongly felt. I want to express my deep gratitude to our team in China for their determination and spirit. As of today, all of our stores in Greater China have reopened."
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/03/apples-covid-19-respo...
2024 - "Today, Apple has 57 stores in Greater China, with thousands of team members delivering exceptional service and creating magical experiences for customers."
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/03/apple-jingan-to-welco...
That might be because that product was only available in China mainland, unlike this product which is available in Greater China.
It's not a "loose geographical region". It's usually denotes precisely the PRC (People's Republic of China, including mainland China and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao) together with the ROC (Republic of China, usually known as Taiwan).
Greater China is never used to describe a region. It means China, Tibet, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan according to Apple.
[flagged]
Well put.