It will not have taken too long: following the latest gesticulations As of the Trump administration, Apple and a dozen other American companies (including Disney, Intel and Walmart) have warned the White House of the profoundly negative effects of a ban on American companies from deal with Tencent, the owner of WeChat. The Wall Street Journal report that during a teleconference held last Tuesday, these US industry giants strongly emphasized that such measures could undermine their competitiveness in the second largest world market.
WeChat, it should be remembered, is more than a simple application in China: it is a complete ecosystem – almost a parallel App Store – installed on one billion of phones. Anyone who couldn’t use WeChat on their iPhone would find themselves virtually cut off from the Chinese social fabric, which must give some cold sweats to Apple.
During the teleconference, Craig Allen, chairman of the US-China Business Council (a non-profit organization aimed at promoting trade between China and the United States) reportedly said:
Those who do not live in China do not understand the depth of the ramifications if American companies are not allowed [d’utiliser WeChat]. […] They will be placed at an extremely disadvantageous position vis-à-vis all of their competitors.
Faced with Donald Trump’s stubbornness, the didactic mission of Apple and other American companies is likely to be more difficult than ever.
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