By Viola Tang, BASC Research Assistant
Outside Hong Kong’s newly opened Apple store, fans held up iPhones with a flickering candle app at the i-Vigil for Steve Jobs. His passing brought immediate and widespread reaction from across the Pacific. Within four hours of the news, nearly 35 million and 23 million message responses appeared on Sina Weibo and Tencent QQ Weibo respectively. Over the course of the day, Youku created a 55-minute tribute to Jobs, industry leaders spoke in honor of Jobs, and admirers poured out to place white flowers at stores all over China.
Despite the issues of piracy and labor and that have plagued Apple’s relationship with China, Jobs transformed Asia’s technology sector, was an inspiration to China’s aspiring entrepreneurial class, and will continue to impact the attitudes of this generation through his products.