Chinese consumers support Huawei and accuse the United States of America of "bullying companies," according to some consumers...
Chinese consumers support Huawei and accuse the United States of America of "bullying companies," according to some consumers on social media.
As has been increasing pressure on Huawei, by including it in the trade blacklist. With this, US companies must obtain licenses from the government before selling their products to Huawei. This step threatens the supply of crucial components for Huawei.
Alphabet, Google's parent company, also said it would stop several businesses with Huawei earlier this week. However, the US reduced some restrictions and gave a 90-day grace period for US companies, including Google, to work with Huawei.
Chinese social media users, who often support local brands, have united to support Huawei. A hashtag with nearly 50 million posts on social media sites similar to Twitter, Weibo, said "Huawei's chip does not need to depend on the US supply chain," reported CNBC International on Friday (05/24/2019).
Some users prefer Huawei from Apple.
"I have also decided to buy a Huawei cellphone, and I will change my plan to buy Apple Watch as a Huawei product, taking action to support Huawei," wrote a Weibo user. "Huawei has been badly bullied recently by the US."
"Even though my stock investment account is facing continued losses, I am preparing to replace my cellphone with Huawei to show support with concrete action," said another user.
A user says this is a "fantasy" to stop Huawei. "We will stop Apple," said the netizen.
It's not clear how much anti-apple sentiment in China is. However, an expert warns that claims in the digital world should not be taken too seriously.
"It's true that nationalistic sentiment has increased in connection with recent events, and I wouldn't be surprised if Apple got a little spark," said Bryan Ma, vice president of device research at market research firm International Data Corporation.
"But many users in China still want Apple's prestige and products. We need to be careful not to over-generalize based on samples of online vocal users," he said.
Apple declined to comment when contacted by CNBC International regarding this report.
Greater China accounts for around 17% of Apple's net sales. In the second quarter of the company's fiscal year, net sales in this region fell by more than 21% on an annual basis.
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| Photo: Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, speaks during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, USA, March 25, 2019. REUTERS / Stephen Lam |
Apple has been competing fiercely from Huawei in China and other players like Xiaomi. The company has also struggled with pricing strategies for the latest devices in the country and retailers have been forced to cut prices for some of these models earlier this year.
However, experts say political tensions between the US and China could further hit Apple.
"I think it is not difficult for Beijing to reverse national sentiment and call for an immediate ban," said David Riedel, president and founder of the Riedel Research Group, Wednesday (05/23/2019).
Huawei is a smartphone maker with the second largest market share in the world behind Samsung. However, limiting access to major US suppliers can undermine its global ambitions, experts say.
While Huawei relies on US companies for its products, Apple also has a large number of Chinese suppliers. If there is a disruption to the supply chain for Apple, it could disrupt sales.
Nicole Peng, vice president of mobility at Canalys, noted that Apple had previously been hit by boycott activities that "usually only last for a few weeks."
However, this time can be different.
"Even though Apple is very experienced, it can
"the most difficult company has ever experienced, and they have to try everything to communicate with their loyal users," Peng told CNBC.
Interestingly, Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei often praised Apple. He called it a "great company" during an interview with CNBC International earlier this year.
In another interview on Wednesday with Chinese media, Ren also spoke about the importance of working with US companies.
"In such a critical moment, I thank US companies because they have contributed a lot to the development of Huawei and showed their awareness of this issue," said Ren, according to Global Times, a news outlet run by the Chinese Communist Party.
Source: CNBC, google
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