iPhone users are typically very loyal to the brand. They may be proud to learn that iPhone is a very powerful device. Nope, not talking about its specs. The power of iPhone in affecting world stock markets. Here’s that article saying so in TheStar: Apple, trade woes sink global stocks; growth worries drag on US$ Due to the softening demand for iPhones, it has dragged down the world stocks market yesterday (19 Nov 2018). Another reason was also mentioned; trade tensions between China and the United States but that has been happening for many months and not just recently. With the decline of Apple shares and its suppliers, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index dropped 1.7 percent.
The Wall Street Journal reported Apple had cut production orders in recent weeks for iPhone models it launched in September. (Just launched 2 months ago and production orders are cut. By the way, the sales of the few major Chinese brands continue to rise; Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.) As for the trade war, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence shared that there would be no end to U.S. tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods until China changed its ways. Full article in TheStar for reference here. By the way, this was China’s latest statement about the trade war. President Xi Jinping said, “History has shown that confrontation, whether in the form of a cold war, a hot war or a trade war, will produce no winners. Attempts to erect barriers and cut close economic ties work against the laws of economics and the trends of history. He added, “This is a short-sighted approach and it is doomed to failure.” That article in BBC for reference here.
Last week, I shared with a good friend that competition is also about ‘fighting’ FAIRLY. One cannot ask for access into another market or forces other markets to be open and yet closing one’s own market to the world simply because of trade deficits. Actually, we are also seeing this with Brexit where some parties wanted the European Union (EU) to grant the same access to British companies BUT for Britain NOT to adhere to the requirements on EU member states, especially a major one which was the immigration part. One recent article here: Uncertainty is not good for the market Beyond these, there’s also the SUBSIDY which some farmers get in advanced nations just so that they can compete with farmers from developing and poorer nations. At the same time though, these poorer nations are asked to be FAIR. Well… this is the world of today. Happy following.
written on 20 Nov 2018
Next suggested article: Education will always be attractive to the property market
Leave a Reply