China has denied reports of a government iPhone ban, but here's how rising geopolitical tensions could continue to impact Apple.
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00:00 So of course I want to start with these recent reports that China is moving to ban iPhones and
00:05 iPhone usage for government officials. Various estimates, Eddie, as you know about how many
00:09 devices this would ultimately actually impact. What do you make of those headlines in the last
00:15 week and is this a cause for concern if you were, let's say, an Apple investor?
00:19 Look, I think it is a reason for concern and I think this is why you're starting to see some of
00:27 these tech companies start to move to India. We're actually very bullish on India, but in regards to
00:32 this news with China, it shows how vulnerable we are, right? Because at the snap of a finger,
00:38 the government can just lay down the rule of law and everyone's going to abide by it. So there's
00:43 definitely some risks there for these multinational companies that do business in China.
00:48 And look, from a geopolitical perspective, we know tensions with China have been getting tougher and
00:52 tougher this year. And this is another warning sign that it's something that we got to keep a
00:57 close eye on because this could escalate into other things that would not be very good for
01:03 the market and certainly a major headwind potentially. So it is a big deal in my opinion.
01:08 I mean, how retaliatory of a nature do you see this being? I mean, here in the United States,
01:15 we've got congressional bans, government device bans on things like TikTok, then Huawei is part
01:21 of the conversation there as well. Is this just sort of a tit for tat that may continue to escalate?
01:26 I think it could. And look, you know, they're developing a phone over there that they wanted
01:31 to compete with Apple. So it's one of those things where they're trying to, the more market share
01:36 they can get and potentially hurt a US company to them puts them in a position of strength. So
01:43 I think long term, this is going to bite China in the rear end and it's going to make them weaker
01:48 and make other countries like India stronger. But at the end of the day, in the short term,
01:53 you can't just take, make a transition from things being manufactured and all the business
01:58 that comes from China and transition it overnight to a country like India. So in the near term,
02:04 I think this could certainly escalate. So it's it certainly has our attention.
02:08 You don't want to make a major move on a stock just because of this one headline.
02:13 But again, it's something that is, I'll call it a warning sign that investors need to keep an eye on.
02:18 Yeah.
02:18 Yeah.
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