Following the U.S. placing Chinese tech firm Huawei on an “entity list,” Chinese consumers are considering a boycott of U.S. tech giant Apple.
Business Insider reports that following the addition of the Chinese tech firm Huawei to an entity list by Washington, Chinese mobile phone users are considering a boycott of U.S. tech giant Apple. According to Business Insider, there are signs that Chinese citizens may be willing to turn their back on Apple and it’s iPhones, which already struggle to sell in the Chinese market.
UBS sent a note to clients outlining the possible issues that Apple could face if a retaliatory boycott is started against the company over the United States’ treatment of Huawei. “At times, foreign consumer goods have been negatively impacted in China by nationalist sentiment (which social media potentially exacerbating this),” UBS said. “This could have been a factor regarding Apple iPhone’s poorer performance in China in 4Q18. Whilst hard to quantify, we do view this as a risk for Apple and the supply chain.”
Chinese social media has reportedly been dominated by talks of Huawei’s situation in the U.S. with users of Chinese microblogging website Weibo calling for a direct boycott of Apple. Similar threats of an Apple boycott were made following the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in December. At the time, the Nikkei Asian Review reported that some Chinese employers were even considering confiscating Apple iPhones from employees and punishing those who purchased them.
In an earnings call last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that Apple sales appeared to be doing well in China and highlighted the “improved trade dialog between the United States and China” as a possible reason for this; since then trade relations have become significantly more tense.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com
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