Apple may be on the target of China as the country prepares for a possible retaliation on the impending ban on TikTok.
TikTok is in a tough position right now. United States President Donald Trump is giving ByteDance only until September 15 to divest from the country and sell their stake. Luckily, Microsoft is serious about fixing the issue and is looking at a potential takeover. The rumored price of the sale is worth AU$70 billion.
That is no cheap price, notwithstanding the massive scale of success by the company. While the U.S. is busy drilling TikTok for its security issues, the Chinese government could also be concocting its version of the ban. Unfortunately, Apple could be the target of it.
Apple could face some sort of ban in China
The U.S. has been generous in its attention towards everything Chinese in the country. As such, it has gotten China irate on the matter. China Daily newspaper said that their country would not allow the ‘bullying’ that’s been handed to the Chinese companies in the U.S. Neither will it allow the U.S. to benefit from technically stealing TikTok’s success.
Nonetheless, the newspaper’s editorial section added that the country has “plenty of ways to respond if the administration carries out its planned smash and grab.”
China Daily isn’t the only one to echo the matter. Chinese social media users are calling the Chinese government to be swift and hasty in its retaliation. The counter-attack suggestions had Apple as the target. China is one of the biggest markets for the Cupertino-based company. As a consequence, imposing some sort of ban on the company could deal severe damage to Apple.
Apple confirmed the new iPhones will be delayed. “Last year we started selling new iPhones in late September, this year, we project supply to be available a few weeks later,” the company’s CFO Luca Maestri said during the 3rd quarter 2020 earnings call on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/VsT6VXvHKf
— CGTN America (@cgtnamerica) July 30, 2020
Apple facing a $2 billion patent lawsuit
Apple has reportedly been sued for patent infringement over a voice assistant technology in China. Shanghai Zhizhen has filed the lawsuit alleging that Apple has infringed on its company’s invention by rolling out Siri.
Not many details on the lawsuit were disclosed. However, the effect of a win by Shanghai Zhizhen can snowball into what could become Apple’s demise in the country. Siri is essentially embedded in all devices that Apple makes. As a result, if Zhizhen indeed wins, the courts in China could impose a ban on all Apple products.
China remains the second biggest market in Apple. However, it faces stiff competition in the local market with the rise of locally made phones such as Huawei and Oppo.
Image from Drew Coffman/ Unsplash