After Huawei blacklist, 'Boycott Apple' campaign gaining steam in China: Report

The ongoing **trade war** between the US and China took a nasty turn yesterday after the former’s blacklisting of Chinese tech giant Huawei **forced Google** to stop conducting business with the company. iPhone maker Apple, which is already grappling with issues of increased tariffs and other fallout from the ongoing trade war, must now deal with a surging anti-Apple sentiment in China. [caption id=“attachment_5903861” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Apple logo. Reuters[/caption] As per a report by Buzzfeed it would appear that Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly “anti-Apple” and Huawei’s blacklisting has increasingly fueled a “Boycott Apple” in China campaign. Users have been taking to the Chinese social media platform Weibo where they have been saying things like “The functions in Huawei are comparable to Apple iPhones or even better. We have such a good smartphone alternative, why are we still using Apple?” or “I think Huawei’s branding is amazing, it chops an apple into eight pieces.” Another user said “Trump doesn’t allow companies to use Huawei, then let’s not use Apple. We shouldn’t buy any phone that uses Qualcomm as well.” Apple has been performing quite poorly in China with reports indicating a 20 percent dip in sales last quarter while Huawei has been soaring with a nearly 25 percent increase in sales, as per the Buzzfeed report. For its part, US has also targetted Huawei relentlessly by rejecting its 5G telecom equipment and also having Huawei CFO Meng arrested in Canada. Back in December, the “Boycott Apple” campaign had picked up speed where companies in China were boycotting Apple products and threatening to fire employees who were using Apple products. For Apple, which is selling in saturated markets in Europe and the US, developing countries like China and India are a huge avenue for growth. The US ban on Huawei and the ongoing trade war put paid to these plans. Read more on the Huawei banning saga: **Huawei's Android license has been revoked: Here's what Huawei has to say about it** **Huawei's Android licence revoked: What it means for existing Huawei and Honor phone users** **Intel and Qualcomm join Google in cutting off ties with Huawei following Trump ban** **After Huawei blacklist, 'Boycott Apple' campaign gaining steam in China: Report** **German chipmaker Infineon suspends shipments to Huawei after US trade blacklist** Huawei is reportedly releasing its own Android alternative called IndeoenOS this fall **Huawei accuses US of bullying, says working with Google to respond to ban** **Huawei doesn't mention Android at its new Honor 20 series smartphone launch event** **Huawei's trade ban by the US could advance local Chinese chip suppliers** **Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei claims the US's 90-day reprieve does not bear 'much impact'** Some Huawei Mobile users are considering a switch after Google suspension