If WeChat is banned from the App Store by the United States, a majority of Chinese users prefer to abandon their iPhone rather than lose access to WeChat. This says a lot about the importance of the app in China, and bodes well for Apple in the Chinese market.
As you know, WeChat like TikTok are in the crosshairs of Donald Trump. The US president wants to ban the two applications from US territory, on the pretext that they represent a threat to the country's internal security. To avoid being banned in the United States, the two Chinese applications have only one solution: to be acquired by an American company by September 15.
In the case of TikTok, Microsoft has positioned itself and is proving to be on track to buy out TikTok 100%. As for WeChat, the question of a buyer always arises. And while waiting for a potential candidate, many specialists have already considered the dramatic consequences that the ban on WeChat could have.
While an analyst recently claimed that iPhone sales would collapse if WeChat were to disappear from the App Store, we learn that a survey conducted on the Weibo site suggests that Chinese users are ready to ditch their iPhones. rather than doing without WeChat.
Indeed, out of the million people surveyed, 95% of them say they prefer to keep access to WeChat rather than stay on iOS.
For Chinese users, the question does not arise ( WeChat )
Kenny Ou, a Hong Kong student, explains in the columns of the Bloomberg site: “All my products come from Apple: my MacBook, my iPad, my iPhone and even my AirPods. Apple has created a strong bond between their products and made me very dependent on their brand. It would be a huge disaster for my studies and my work if such a ban (nldr: it refers to WeChat) were imposed ”.
Vincent Han, a commodities trader in Shanghai, said he was considering switching from his Huawei to an iPhone. The possible ban on WeChat made him change his mind. “I'm concerned that WeChat will be banned on the iPhone. This will affect my work to a large extent, as 90% of my clients and colleagues communicate through WeChat […] I'm afraid the Android platform will also ban WeChat ”.
For its part, Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, is reassuring. She downplays the impact of Trump's sanctions and is confident that these presidential decrees will only apply to the United States. As a result, the Chinese version of WeChat, called Weixin, would remain available on the App Store.