Almost the entire population of iPhone users in China is now refusing to use an iPhone. This came after the United States declared a ban on the country's widely-used messaging app, WeChat U.S.-based companies like Ford, Walmart, Disney, and Apple are now speaking on the U.S. government to loosen up the restrictions written on the executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
The US bans WeChat; China bans Apple?
QR codes of the digital payment services WeChat Pay and Alipay are seen at a shop in Beijing, China August 6, 2020.
In over 1.2 million iPhone users in China, only 5% of this population still wants to use Apple's iPhone, according to a recent Weibo survey, highlighted by Bloomberg.
On Aug. 6, President Donald Trump signed an executive order asking all American companies and businesses to stop dealing with Chinese companies like ByteDance and Tencent, citing 'national security issues.'
ByteDance owned a famous video-sharing app called TikTok. On the other hand, Tencent generally owns some of the most popular games like League of Legends, PUBG, and even Fortnite.
ByteDance already released a statement on the matter saying that they're shocked about the decision. Meanwhile, Tencent confirmed that there were no worries on their end.
Tech Times reported that the company was unconcerned with the Trump ban since WeChat's American user base comprises only 2%.
"If you look at the executive orders from May 2019 and then obviously the executive order a couple of days ago, they specify very clearly they cover U.S. jurisdiction, and consequently we don't see any impact on companies advertising on our platform in China," said James Mitchell, Tencent's chief strategy officer.
On the other hand, Apple has a low-card on this course of action.
WeChat warns Apple company
The messenger app WeChat is seen next to its logo in this illustration picture taken August 7, 2020
Tencent CSO Mitchell said that over 1.2 billion people in China use their apps. If America is out of the picture, the company will not be affected that much.
However, Apple might be the one that should be worried. Since WeChat will not be allowed to operate on the Cupertino-based Apple iPhone anymore, experts think that it will no longer be an option for Chinese users.
"For those who don't live in China, they don't understand how vast the implications are if American companies aren't allowed to use it," said Craig Allen, President of the U.S.-China Business Council. "They are going to be held at a severe disadvantage to every competitor," he added.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said via Mac Rumors that once the WeChat ban is effective, the global iPhone shipments could decrease by 25 to 30%.
So far, reports told that Apple has been doing its meetings with the U.S. officials to curb President's decision. For now, they only have until Sept. 15 for the executive order to finally take effect.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Jamie Pancho
