Apple Runs as Two Companies

Global firms increasingly behave like separate entities: one that operates freely in democratic home markets and another that complies, censors, and concedes control inside authoritarian host markets. That split is institutional (supply chains, data practices, local governance) and not merely rhetorical, producing divergent obligations, reputations, and vulnerabilities. — If multinationals bifurcate operations this way, democracies lose leverage and national‑security risk rises, requiring new policy responses on procurement, investment screening, and corporate governance.