Apple being forced to remove the popular messaging app, WeChat, from its global App Store could have its iPhone shipments drop by up to 30 percent in the Chinese market.
According to the known analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, and a report from MacRumors, Apple’s annual iPhone shipments could see a sizeable decline in China in a worst case scenario. After a recent executive order that sought to ban US transactions with WeChat and its parent company Tencent was passed, the Cupertino based giant might have to remove the messaging app from its App Stores across the globe.
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Ming-Chi Kuo presented two possible outcomes that covered an optimistic and pessimistic scenario, which depends on whether or not Apple has to remove WeChat from just its US App Store or in its entire global App Store. For those unaware, WeChat is a popular Chinese messaging application that is especially successful in China. A global ban would be devastating to Apple, due to its popularity in China.
Kuo stated that “Because WeChat has become a daily necessity in China, integrating functions such as messaging, payment, e-commerce, social networking, news reading, and productivity, if this is the case, we believe that Apple’s hardware product shipments in the Chinese market will decline significantly. We estimate that the annual iPhone shipments will be revised down by 25–30%, and the annual shipments of other Apple hardware devices, including AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac, will be revised down by 15–25%.”
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