China

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#BoycottApple Trends on Twitter After Company's Recent Moves

Andrew Orr ·

The hashtag #BoycottApple is trending on Twitter after Apple removed the HKMap and Quartz apps from the App Store at the behest of China.

Just after Apple removed the apps, #BoycottApple has been trending on all the social media platforms with users voicing their discontent with Apple’s move. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Apple has been under fire for pulling something like this. Back in 2017, the company pulled The New York Times app from the App Store stating that the Chinese government had requested the app’s removal because it was “in violation of local regulations.”

Phil Schiller: “Courage.”

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Vietnam Might Be the Next iPhone Manufacturing Center

Andrew Orr ·

Due to the trade war between the United States and China, companies are looking to put their eggs into more baskets. Vietnam could be one of them.

Apple has homed in on Vietnam and India as it intensifies its search for ways to diversify its supply chain. Nintendo has accelerated a shift in the production of its Switch console to Vietnam from China, according to Panjiva, a supply chain research firm. The Taiwanese electronics behemoth Foxconn, a major assembler of iPhones, said in January that it had acquired land-use rights in Vietnam and had pumped $200 million into an Indian subsidiary. Other Taiwanese and Chinese partners to Apple have indicated that they are considering ramping up operations in Vietnam as well.

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Hong Kong Protesters Use AirDrop to Bypass Great Firewall

Andrew Orr ·

Hong Kong protesters have been using AirDrop has a way to get around China’s Great Firewall. They can send messages to Chinese people this way, like information on the protests, pro-democracy messages, and even information about the Tiananmen massacre of 1989.

“Did you know? Over the past month, Hong Kong has seen three massive rallies, with as many as 2 million people taking to the streets,” read one such AirDropped poster. “Don’t wait until [freedom] is gone to regret its loss. Freedom isn’t god-given; it is fought for by the people.”

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Trump Administration Talking About Banning Encryption

Andrew Orr ·

Politico reports that the Trump administration is in talks about banning encryption, or at least certain forms of it that law enforcement can’t crack.

The encryption challenge, which the government calls “going dark,” was the focus of a National Security Council meeting Wednesday morning that included the No. 2 officials from several key agencies, according to three people familiar with the matter…Senior officials debated whether to ask Congress to effectively outlaw end-to-end encryption, which scrambles data so that only its sender and recipient can read it…

Great. I can’t wait for Russia and China to intercept all of our insecure communications.

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iPhone and the US-China Trade War

Andrew Orr ·

Jason Dedrick, Greg Linden, and Kenneth L. Kraemer broke down the cost of the iPhone and showed how China doesn’t get as much value from iPhone exports as we think.

So what about all of those famous factories in China with millions of workers making iPhones? The companies that own those factories, including Foxconn, are all based in Taiwan. Of the factory-cost estimate of $237.45 from IHS Markit at the time the iPhone 7 was released in late 2016, we calculate that all that’s earned in China is about $8.46, or 3.6% of the total. That includes a battery supplied by a Chinese company and the labor used for assembly.

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iPhone China Sales Down 30% in Q1 2019

Andrew Orr ·

Apple’s iPhone China sales are down 30% in Q1 2019. Huawei continues to dominate, capturing 34% of China’s smartphone market.

Apple’s performance in China is concerning, given that the worst quarter for iPhone shipments is usually Q2 or Q3, not Q1 when new devices are still fresh. Apple has acted to cut iPhone retail prices, which has largely relieved the pressure from its channel partners.

I wonder how much of iPhone sales in China were impacted by Chinese companies encouraging employees to boycott Apple in favor of Huawei.