Apple may be facing ‘informal boycott’ in China, says Bank of America Merrill Lynch

“Chinese consumers may be staging an ‘informal boycott’ of U.S. products that is hitting Apple Inc. iPhones, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch,” Malcolm Scott reports for Bloomberg. “‘According to a survey conducted by our colleagues in equity research, consumers in China and India are showing less interest in upgrading to an iPhone and more interest in upgrading to Xiaomi and Samsung,’ Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists Ethan Harris and Aditya Bhave wrote in a recent note. ‘Apple sales may also suffer from a general redirection of Chinese demand away from U.S. products.'”
“The economists note there are a bunch of industry-specific factors and competitive reasons behind the downbeat forecast by Apple which may limit its value as an indicator on the health of the Chinese economy,” Scott reports. “Still Apple’s high profile and increasing talk about technology in the trade tensions, could make the American company a victim.”
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MacDailyNews Take: No pain, no gain.
“Investors fretted that the weakness in China could lead to boycotts of Apple products, a claim [Apple CEO Tim] Cook has disputed as anecdotal,” Elizabeth Gurdus reports for TheStreet.
I’m cognizant that in both the U.S. and China, there have been cases where everyone hasn’t benefited, where the benefit hasn’t been balanced. My belief is that one plus one equals three. The pie gets larger, working together. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, March 24, 2018
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If you look at our results, our shortfall is over 100% from iPhone and it’s primarily in greater China. And so as we look at what’s going on in China — it’s clear that the economy begins to slow there for the second half. And what I believe to be the case is the trade tensions between the United States and China put additional pressure on their economy… I’ve had obviously many, many discussions [with the Trump administration] over the course of many months to be constructed and to give sort of my perspective on trade and the importance of it to the American economy as well. And I feel like I’m — that I’m being listened to in that respect. And so I’m actually encouraged by what I’ve heard most recently coming from the U.S. and from China and hopefully we’ll see some changes. – Apple CEO Tim Cook, January 2, 2019
SEE ALSO:
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross: Apple’s earnings miss had nothing to do with U.S.-China trade talks – January 7, 2019
Advisor to President Trump: Apple’s sales should pick up when U.S.-China strike trade deal – January 3, 2019