Ming-Chi Kuo’s Apple commentary is normally fairly insightful, but his latest batch on how Apple can shoulder President Trump’s tariff burden is short-sighted, and doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
Ming-Chi Kuo’s Apple commentary is normally fairly insightful, but his latest batch on how Apple can shoulder President Trump’s tariff burden is short-sighted, and doesn’t make a great deal of sense.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently outlined how the company could respond to a new wave of U.S. tariffs targeting hardware assembled in China, India, and Vietnam. The new policy imposes tariffs of 54%, 26%, and 46% on goods from China, India, and Vietnam, respectively.
However, Kuo’s analysis glosses over some incredibly major obstacles.
Raising prices is likely
Kuo claims Apple could avoid the worst of the tariff impact by shifting more production to India and Vietnam or leaning on other cost-saving tactics. But they won’t eliminate the financial pressure, and that makes price hikes far more likely.
If Apple doesn’t raise prices, Kuo claims it could lose up to 9% of its gross margin. But no matter how the company responds, customers ultimately bear the cost.
