Time to Buy Apple Stock on This Dip? Why China's Ban on Government iPhone Use Actually Means Very Little
The headlines certainly sound daunting. The iPhone is 's ((NASDAQ: AAPL) single biggest source of revenue, and China is the company's single biggest market -- well, at least based on population. That's why The Wall Street Journal's recent report that Beijing is moving to bar China's government officials from using the iPhone for work purposes seems problematic. And that's why Apple shares are down to the tune of 8% from last week's high.
Don't be too quick to jump on the rhetoric's bandwagon, though. For now anyway, China's ban only applies to government employees' work phones. Chinese government employees don't account for a large percentage of the world's iPhone users.
How many of China's government workers currently use iPhones to help them do their jobs? Nobody knows the exact number. There are a couple of educated guesses, though. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates the total is somewhere around 500,000, and while Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi doesn't offer a specific number, he does say the governmental ban could reduce China's iPhone sales by as much as 5%. But that's just China.
Source Fool.com