iPhone shipments ‘could decline 30pc’
One analyst says a WeChat ban could be devastating for Apple’s market share across the globe.
Hello and welcome to The Download, The Australian’s technology blog for the latest tech news.
4.30pm: Fall Guys is knockout fun
Video games don’t have to be complicated, dark, gritty or violent to be fun. Quite the opposite in fact, which might be why this game has made quite a colourful splash in the gaming scene following its launch last week, writes our gaming writer Royce Wilson.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is developed by Mediatonic and published by Devolver Digital for PC and PlayStation 4.
The lift pitch is simple: It’s a multiplayer-player online obstacle course drawing inspiration from TV shows like It’s a Knockout and Total Wipeout.
You guide your character – a jelly bean-like competitor – through a range of delightful, brightly coloured obstacle courses and games, with the object of surviving multiple rounds and being crowned the victor.
3.50pm: iPhone shipments ‘could decline 30pc’
Shipments of Apple’s iPhone could decline by as much as 30 per cent if it is forced to remove WeChat from its App Store, according to a new research note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, reported by MacRumors.
The estimate comes after a recent Trump executive order aiming to ban US transactions with WeChat and its parent company Tencent. WeChat is extremely popular with Chinese mobile users, and Kuo says that any ban would have an enormous effect on iPhones more broadly.
“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,” he said.
“We estimate that the annual iPhone shipments will be revised down by 25–30 per cent, and the annual shipments of other Apple hardware devices, including AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac, will be revised down by 15–25 per cent.”
According to MacRumors, Apple does not break down its iPhone shipments by region but Greater China accounted for a little over 15 per cent of Apple‘s total revenue during the June quarter.
9.20am: Huawei to stop making chipsets
Huawei will stop making its flagship Kirin chipsets next month, financial magazine Caixin said on Saturday, as the impact of US pressure on the Chinese tech giant grows.
US pressure on Huawei’s suppliers has made it impossible for the company’s HiSilicon chip division to keep making the chipsets, key components for mobile phone, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Unit was quoted as saying at the launch of the company’s new Mate 40 handset.
With US-China relations at their worst in decades, Washington is pressing governments around to world to squeeze Huawei out, arguing it would hand over data to the Chinese government for spying. Huawei denies it spies for China.
The United States is also seeking the extradition from Canada of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on charges of bank fraud.
In May the US Commerce Department issued orders that required suppliers of software and manufacturing equipment to refrain from doing business with Huawei without first obtaining a license.
“From September 15 onward, our flagship Kirin processors cannot be produced,” Yu said, according to Caixin. “Our AI-powered chips also cannot be processed. This is a huge loss for us.”
Huawei’s HiSilicon division relies on software from US companies such as Cadence Design Systems Inc or Synopsys Inc to design its chips and it outsources the production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which uses equipment from US companies.
Huawei declined comment on the Caixin report. TSMC, Cadence and Synopsys did not immediately respond to email requests for comment.
HiSilicon produces a wide range of chips including its line of Kirin processors, which power only Huawei smartphones and are the only Chinese processors that can rival those from Qualcomm in quality.
“Huawei began exploring the chip sector over 10 years ago, starting from hugely lagging behind, to slightly lagging behind, to catching up, and then to a leader,” Yu was quoted as saying. “We invested massive resources for R&D, and went through a difficult process.”
Reuters
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