US tech giant Apple has not been targeted by Beijing, the company’s CEO Tim Cook said in a recent interview with CBS.
“[C]urrently the Chinese have not targeted Apple at all. And I don’t anticipate that happening, to be honest,” Cook said.
Cook said he believed that Apple would be spared despite Huawei’s woes because there is a “healthy level of respect” between his company and Beijing.
However, the ongoing trade war between China and the United States and potential tariff hikes on iPhones, which are made in China and shipped to the US, might hurt the US tech giant more than Cook is willing to admit.
Apple shipped only 6.5 million iPhones to China in the first quarter of 2019, recording the worst decline in two years. Apple has also recorded a 30% negative annual growth for the last quarter, according to research firm Canalys.