Fearing US Spies, Top Russians Dump iPad

Apple just lost some high-ranking customers: Russian government officials have admitted they've dumped their iPads due to security concerns after they were spotted yesterday without them in tow, the AFP reports. Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said he read "American special services... will significantly increase the volume of information they intercept," and "this obviously orientates Russian clients, primarily state ones, to be very choosy about their partners in IT." So which company have officials opted for instead? That would be Samsung, which has offered "specially protected devices that can be used to work with confidential information," Nikiforov said.

"Some of the information at government meetings is confidential in nature and these devices fully meet these demands and have gone through the strictest system of certification," Nikiforov continued. However, he fervently denied the move was in response to Western sanctions on Russia over its Crimean takeover, noting, "We are not proposing any sanctions." Not everyone may be convinced, but ValueWalk points out that Nikiforov's reasoning makes sense. After all, President Obama isn't allowed to use Apple devices because of security concerns, either. (More iPad stories.)