Tariffs Are Surprise Apple of Apple’s Eye?

Tariff worries aside, Apple’s $95B March revenue was company’s best performance in 3 yrs. Meanwhile, Apple says most of its devices shipped into US will be from India or Vietnam. What’s not to like about Trump’s trade war for one core techy? 

The WSJ reports that the iPhone maker made the announcements trying to “ease investors’ tariff fears as quarterly sales rose 5%” instead of plunging as some had predicted. Not that those fears weren’t based on reality of realpolitik. The newspaper coverage noted, “The company was among the hardest-hit of the tech giants last month because of its exposure to China, a primary target of the Trump administration’s global tariff pressure. Most of Apple’s devices are assembled in the country & investors are closely watching its efforts to shift final assembly of devices bound for the US to India & other countries.” 

And, not that Apple is out of the woods yet. Apple shares still fell about 4% because CEO Tim Cook estimated June tariffs would still add $900 million to Apple’s costs, i.e., assuming the US tariff policies don’t change soon. But, then, they probably will as trade negotiations advance. Moreover, Apple’s products are still selling well if not like hot cakes as consumer spending continues unabated. Bottom line to Cook: Apple will continue to diversify its supply chain away from China as President Trump had wanted [and probably continue to profit well] since “What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it.” 

Davd Soul