The Financial Times:

There was another important lesson that came out of the skirmish between the iPad maker and the propaganda apparatus.

On the internet, which the party can corral with the “Great Firewall” but cannot really control, and particularly on Twitter-like Weibo, the backlash against the state and the cheering for Apple was devastating.

“Our support for Apple doesn’t mean we agree with the company’s insincere behaviour; it mostly represents our contempt for China’s shameless [state] media,” wrote Wan Tao, the young chief executive of a Chinese technology company.

Apple may have played this perfectly: appeased the Chinese government, enhanced their brand with the upper class, and inoculated themselves from Western criticism if they’re banning apps on the Chinese government’s behalf.