The Taiwanese company was boycotted by the Chinese people after the ad ‘slander’

The Taiwanese hardware company has been targeted for boycotts in China, after it said goods made in China were of ‘poor quality’.

Gigabyte products are boycotted in mainland China (Image: Handout) In an advertisement for its latest laptop model, Gigabyte Technology Co., which specializes in motherboards and graphics processing equipment, claims that it manufactures its products in Taiwan, where Quality control is very strict. “Unlike other brands that choose low-cost and low-quality manufacturing contracts in China, Gigabyte Techonology is committed to producing high-quality and high-configuration laptops” – the advertisement said – “As a Taiwan-based laptop and components manufacturer, we make sure that 90% of our laptops are made in Taiwan.” The ad immediately caught the attention of the Communist Youth League of China. They posted a screenshot of the ad on Weibo on May 11, with the words: “Gigabyte, what makes you so brave?”. The Youth Union, which has nearly 16 million followers on Weibo, in March also criticized the Swedish brand H&M for refusing to buy cotton from Xinjiang, after several Western countries raised many accusations. human rights obligations in this region. Gigabyte, which has operated a factory in China’s industrial center Ningbo since 2003, immediately apologized after the ad. The company said in a statement that it has always supported the “One China” principle – Beijing’s political stance that recognizes mainland China and Taiwan as part of China. “Some of the content recently posted on our official website goes against reality, an incident that happened due to lack of management from within the company” – Gigabyte wrote on Weibo on May 11 – “We I have production lines all over mainland China, accounting for 90% of our production. Gigabyte prides itself on quality made in China.” However, this quick apology was not enough to calm the anger of the Chinese online community. “You don’t have a chance anymore” – a Weibo netizen commented on Gigabyte’s post – “Seriously, don’t waste your energy. You have crossed the red line.” By the end of May 11, Gigabyte products had disappeared from most Chinese e-commerce platforms. The search term “Gigabyte” returned no results on JD.com and Suning. Gigabyte’s official store on Tmall – an online sales platform operated by Alibaba Group Holding – no longer catalogs products. Alibaba, JD.com and Suning were not immediately available for comment. Gigabyte’s share price fell nearly 20% between May 11 and 12.