(New York) The stock of Apple, the world’s largest market capitalization, fell by almost 3% on Thursday following information that China has banned the use of the iPhone in certain administrations and state companies.
If extended, such measures would represent a challenge for the iPhone maker, as China is its largest overseas market, but also largely its main production center.
On Wednesday, on Wall Street, shares of the Cupertino company had already deflated the group’s market capitalization by more than $100 billion in a single session.
The stock closed down 3.58% to $182.91, representing a valuation of $2,749 billion.
Around 11:55 a.m., the stock was down 3.33%, to $176.82.
A Wall Street Journal article published Wednesday reported that authorities have banned employees of government agencies from professional use of the iPhone, or even, for owners of the Apple phone, from taking it to their workplace .
Questioned Thursday by AFP, Apple had not yet commented.
“Apple’s growth depends a lot on China and if Beijing’s repression intensifies, this could pose a big problem for a series of technology companies that also depend on China,” said Edward Moya, analyst for Oanda .
Investors fear Chinese restrictions could hamper Apple’s revenue prospects.
However, for Dan Ives of Wedbush, the presence of the iPhone in Chinese administrations only represents a small share of Apple’s market in China.
“At worst,” this would concern “500,000 devices out of the approximately 45 million that will be sold in China over the next twelve months,” assures the analyst.
These Chinese measures come as Beijing has already asked its central administration, in 2022, to change its foreign-brand IT equipment for “made in China” computers, according to press information.
For its part, the Biden administration implemented new export controls late last year aimed at limiting Beijing’s ability to buy and manufacture high-end chips used in military applications. .
As of Thursday morning, the White House had not commented on the decision of the Chinese authorities.
