Amid reports that President Donald Trump plans to order TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social-media app’s US operations, Microsoft has emerged as a potential buyer.
I would think there are a lot bigger fish to fry when it comes to Chinese interests controlling western corporations, such as Apple, which is all but a Chinese company at this point, or the influence of Tencent, which has stakes in countless western companies.
Chinese interests controlling Apple… whatever. [shake-head]
The issue isn’t about “controlling interests” but about the Chinese government using TikTok to spy on Americans.
Tim Cook performs China’s bidding – we have a long documented history of that – and he cannot criticize China or its policies. How is Apple not controlled by Chinese interests?
That doesn’t mean that Apple is a chinese country. A company that follows the laws and regulations of a country it wants to sell in, doesn’t mean it’s run by said country. Look at japanese car companies in the 70’s All japanese cars in america needed stupid bumpers and round headlights, because of american regulations. That doesn’t immediately mean that those japanese companies are suddenly at the whim of american interests.
If you want to sell in a market, you need to follow that market’s rules and regulations. Apple wants to sell in China, because of China’s growth of the middle class. It’s a huge market to expand into, and one where domestic companies always have an edge over foreign products. Expanding into china can be hugely profitable, but as a western company, they have to follow the chinese laws and regulations, and even ignore their questionable policies, if they want a cut of that sweet sweet profit.
Apple, ultimately, want to make money. And as a company, they’ll do nearly anything to make sure they get more of it. If Elon Musk ordered 5 million iPhones and wanted to launch them to the moon, Apple would launch 5 million iPhones to the moon. Ultimately, Apple don’t care who buys their products or what happens to them after purchase, as long as those products are sold, and Apple pockets the profits.
You’ve become such a tinfoil hat guy Thom
Apple follows Chinese laws, as do all other companies operating in China, including Microsoft and Amazon. Are those companies also ‘Chinese companies’?
How is this different from Apple, Google and Microsoft following all sorts of questionable laws the world over. If the US passes anti-encryption laws should Apple and Google stop doing business in the US?
By the way do all your electronics come from countries other than China or are you also a hypocrite?
Don’t start a discussion with name-calling. Rephrase and make it fun for everyone :-).
I once had people laugh with me because I explained my dad did “hi-availability projects” for when “for example a plain crashes into your main office building”. A year later 9/11 occurred. Even tinfoil hat guys can be right, calling them names wont make you more right. Have fun discussing and keep an open mind :-).
You’re missing the point. Trump isn’t concerned that TikTok is anything more than a channel that he doesn’t have an influence over this coming election. If it gets bought by an American company while he’s in the loop he can have an out-sized influence that he cannot have with Facebook and Twitter.
Maybe MS will rethink their decision to close all their retail stores. 15 second hipster videos on a big screen… people would stand and watch a few.
But then things will get viral the COVID-19 way, obfuscating the whole point of closing the stores.
Yeah the “science museum” retail model is probably not going to work until next spring at least. But now that MS is tipping back towards its consumer focus, drawing crowds with TikTok would be a natural. Even if they’re socially distancing crowds wearing face masks looking through the plate glass from outside the store.