On Friday, the world’s most influential consumer electronics company’s market value shrank by $44 billion.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Tencent Technology“, Review: Gold deer.
According to foreign media reports, Apple’s dependence on the Chinese market is growing, and this seems to pose new challenges for it.
The market value of the world’s most influential consumer electronics company was reduced by $44 billion on Friday. Earlier, China and the United States focused on Apple’s huge Chinese production base, and almost all iPhones in the world are produced in China.
U.S. President Donald Trump “ordered” US companies to immediately begin looking for “Made in China” alternatives, according to Wade Bush Securities analyst David Ives. Said that this is completely unprepared for Apple.
Ives said: “In the best case, Apple may transfer 5%-7% of iPhone production out of China within 18 months.” He added that it takes three years for Apple to reach 20 % of production is shifted out, which is still lower than Apple’s 25% iPhone production in the US domestic market.
Therefore, the United States imposes tariffs on goods from China, which will directly affect Apple’s largest profit-making enterprise. Ives said in the title of the report that Trump’s latest comment on China is “a big blow to Apple”.
Apple’s main assembly partner, Foxconn, claims that the company has the ability to produce all of Apple’s iPhones sold outside the US outside of China, but all indications are that this change will require a lot of time and money. After the latest tariff statement, Apple’s share price suffered two major blows on Friday.
People familiar with iPhone production said that because it is difficult to get skilled labor elsewhere, the production of Apple’s iconic device is almost impossible to transfer on a large scale, and Apple CEO Tim Cook is also This point is repeatedly emphasized in public. Replicating complex production lines and the necessary infrastructure is one of the great challenges facing Apple.
Although Apple has asked a number of suppliers for proposals to produce iPhones outside of China, there is no indication that Apple is preparing for a large-scale migration manufacturing business.
It is said that an assembler proposed to set up a factory outside of China, but was rejected by Apple, and the supplier eventually expanded its business in China. People familiar with the matter said that GoerTek’s recent efforts to transfer some of the AirPod production to Vietnam were voluntary. But both cases have nothing to do with the iPhone, the iPhone is still mainly made in China, some oldThe models are assembled in India and focus on the Indian market.
Cook lobbied Washington’s ability to demand tariff reductions will be tested in the coming weeks. So far, he has won favorable conditions for the iPhone, iPad and Apple laptops. These products will not be affected by US tariffs until December 15.
But looking to the future, unless China and the United States reach a new trade plan, Apple seems to have to make a comprehensive plan for producing iPhones outside of China, no matter how much it may cost.