I think Apple might have played the best hand they could during Covid-19, and I’m on the fence as to whether to buy stock in the immediate future given our approach towards the flu, cold, and now, coronavirus season.
What happened? Apple cut the price on many of their products, and the government subsidized purchases of Iphone products by providing loans and vouchers to third-party retailers in China. If you go online, there are stories about 18-30% price reductions on many Iphone 11 models, and there are huge reductions of over 50% on utility and accessory items. I think the goal for Apple is to increase market share of the smart phone market in China, so they can increase the customer base for their Apps and services. I can imagine Apple losing money on sales in China just so they can profit off the digital transactions.
Why did this happen? The Chinese government fostered business growth during the pandemic. This created a nice recipe for Apple’s success in China, while they started moving their product manufacturers to India.
First, China cut a minimum of $300 billion dollars in annual taxes to boost growth in March, and expanded the amount of tax revenue that goes back to local governments. When you adjust for inflation, the number comes out to $600-800 billion dollars, which, for the purposes of scale, is 3-4 times greater than the $190 billion in lost revenue under the Trump tax cut in 2017. The largest cut came from the VAT tax, which was lowered from 16% to 13%. One of Apples third party, online retailers, JD Supra, was already exempt from income and others taxes, as well as interest rates on loans, and the reduction in VAT tax really helped them explode. China also increased made all donations from corporations to government-preferred charities fully deductible, which spurred numerous companies to donate. While relief is being provided to Chinese businesses, 45% taxes are being applied to non-citizens, expats, and anyone that earns global income.
https://www.straitstimes.com/busine...-45-china-tax-rate-consider-leaving-hong-kong
In addition, “many provincial and local governments have also set out additional relief measures. This includes deferring the payment of social security contributions (and in some cases refunding contributions already made), cutting real estate tax and urban land use tax for enterprises with funding difficulties/small and middle-sized enterprises, among other measures. We expect more tax relief measures to follow at the central and local level.”
https://www.internationaltaxreview....ief-measures-to-tackle-coronavirus-disruption
Adding more fuel to the fire, China poured hundreds of billions into banks, small business loans, and regulatory credits. Local Governments provided consumption vouchers to local businesses, and the national government provided e-commerce vouchers to online channels. The former mainly subsidizes small-businesses that are favorable to the government, and the latter spurred $38 billion in sales for JD Supra from June 1 to the 18.
https://www.startribune.com/jd-com-stock-jumps-6-in-hong-kong-debut-amid-annual-sale/571337302/