Senior Indian officials stated that in the last three days of March, Apple (AAPL.US) arranged for five planes fully loaded with iPhones and other products to be flown from India and China to the US in response to the upcoming US tariff hikes, according to various foreign media reports.

As indicated by the reports, it is still unclear how much inventory Apple has in the US. If the inventory is sufficient, Apple may not need to raise prices before the launch of the iPhone 17.
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From the perspective of the division of labor in the global tech industry chain, most of the end-consumer products are produced in mainland China and Asia, and these regions might be affected by the current US tariff policy, BOCOMI released a report saying.

The tariff may have the most direct impact on electronic products with optional attributes such as smartphones and PCs, according to the broker. Considering the larger magnitude of the tariffs, BOCOMI believed that most of the tariffs may be borne by consumers, while the demand for products such as handsets and PCs may be more sensitive to price hikes. Consumer demand for handsets and PCs may be more affected.

BOCOMI also believed that tariff policy has far-reaching impact on the technology industry chain, and the US Federal Government's policies are fast-changing and highly uncertain.

Investors are advised to be cautious in allocating to techs before there are clear signals on tariff and trade policies, and to focus on tech companies with stronger balance sheets and good bargaining power in the industry chain. Investors are also advised to keep an eye on opportunities for domestic substitution in the semiconductor industrial chain.
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Tech stocks have faced hefty selloff recently, with Apple (AAPL.US) slumping another 3.7% on Monday, marking three consecutive trading days of declines and a combined plunge of 19%. This has led to a market cap evaporation of up to USD638 billion.

Market analysis suggested that Apple is among the companies mostly prone to the trade war, primarily due to its reliance on China for product manufacturing, where it now faces a 54% U.S. tariff.
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U.S. stocks experienced a rollercoaster ride on Monday. Within the first hour of trading, reports emerged claiming that President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day tariff suspension for all countries except China. However, the White House swiftly clarified this as “fake news”, causing the three major U.S. stock indices to jolt dramatically within 15 minutes.

The DJIA, which plummeted as much as 1,700 points shortly after the open, rebounded sharply by 892 points within minutes, with an intraday swing of nearly 2,600 points. After the clarification of the above-mentioned news, it turned lower again, ultimately closing down 349 points or 0.9% at 37,965, marking its third consecutive day of declines.

The S&P 500, which briefly entered bear market territory, ended slightly down by 11 points or 0.2% at 5,062, remaining 18% below its peak but holding its ground. The Nasdaq, buoyed by the tariff suspension rumor, swelled 700 points within 15 minutes to peak at 16,292 before retreating, eventually closing up 15 points or 0.1% at 15,603.

Investors bought select large-cap tech stocks, with half of the Nasdaq 100 constituents posting gains. Notably, NVIDIA (NVDA.US) closed up 3.5%, while Meta (META.US) and Amazon (AMZN.US) jumped up over 2%. Alphabet (GOOG.US) added 1%.

Certain chip stocks also revived, with Micron (MU.US), Broadcom (AVGO.US), and national defense tech stock Palantir (PLTR.US) each rallying more than 5%.
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Zimbabwean telecom tycoon Strive Masiyiwa’s Cassava Technologies may invest up to USD720 million to build Africa’s first AI factory in partnership with NVIDIA (NVDA.US).

Cassava Technologies, founded by Zimbabwean telecom magnate Strive Masiyiwa, will deploy NVIDIA’s accelerated computing and AI software in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, and Morocco.

Cassava President and Group CEO Hardy Pemhiwa stated that the plan is to install 12,000 GPUs across Africa over the next three to four years, starting with 3,000 GPUs in South Africa, where will become the first country to utilize NVIDIA’s AI data centers.
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The total import and export of auto in February 2025 amounted to US$18.04 billion, down 9.8% YoY, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The import value of auto in February 2025 amounted to US$3.54 billion, representing a MoM growth of 19.9% and a YoY decline of 26.9%, while the export value amounted to US$14.5 billion, down 28.9% MoM and 4.3% YoY, pursuant to data from China's General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The figures reflect the current international trade situation of the auto industry, indicating that overall exports are still growing despite the challenges faced.
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Technology products are under greater influence of the current tariff war, BOCI stated. While approximately 9.95% of U.S. exports to China in 2024 consisted of integrated circuits and semiconductor equipment, about 41.45% of China’s exports to the U.S. in the same period were mechanical and electronic products.

Apple (AAPL.US) is among the most directly affected companies, with its supply chain being hit hard. Apple’s supply chain is heavily concentrated in Asia. More critically, if iPhones produced in China are subject to a 54% U.S. tariff, demand for iPhones in the U.S. could be hampered.

In contrast, the tariffs imposed by China are expected to have a more manageable effect on the tech industry. This is primarily because prior stringent U.S. export restrictions on Chinese semiconductors and AI-related high-tech products have better prepared China’s supply chain. Additionally, many U.S. products are not manufactured in the U.S., making them largely immune from Chinese tariffs. The broker anticipated that China’s domestic semiconductor supply chain will remain a key beneficiary.

Although XIAOMI-W (01810.HK) has seen its stock price retreat since its recent USD5.5 billion share placement and an intelligent driving-related car accident, the broker predicted the ongoing tariff war has minimal impact on Xiaomi’s operations.

Firstly, aside from certain IoT products sold through North American distributors, Xiaomi’s revenue exposure to the U.S. has been consistently low, estimated by BOCI at less than 1% of total revenue. Secondly, while Xiaomi relies on U.S.-designed components such as SoCs, intelligent driving chips, storage chips, RF front-ends, and power ICs, most of these are produced outside the U.S. and thus unbothered by Chinese tariffs.

Therefore, if the tariff war remains limited to unilateral measures against the U.S., the broker viewed any further price declines as buying opportunities. Within its coverage, the broker considered Xiaomi to have the strongest structural growth while facing limited negative impacts from the tariff war. Xiaomi remains the broker’s sector top pick.
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According to a report from CMBI, the US President announced last Thursday (April 3), Hong Kong time, a 10% tariff on all imports and additional reciprocal tariffs on 60 countries (34% on China, 46% on Vietnam, 26% on India, and 20% on the EU). In general, the broker believed that the scale and speed of the new tariffs exceeded market expectations.

As for brands, CMBI predicted XIAOMI-W (01810.HK) to be less affected due to its limited share of smartphone/ vehicle revenue share in the US. Overall, the broker expected a short-term negative reaction from the tech industry. It plans to seek quality targets after the current stock price adjustments of industry chain companies.

The stocks favored by CMBI included XIAOMI-W, AAC TECH (02018.HK), SUNNY OPTICAL (02382.HK), BYD ELECTRONIC (00285.HK), and Q TECH (01478.HK).
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Daiwa released a research report saying that Apple (AAPL.US)'s smartphone market share in China has been declining over the past few years, and believing that XIAOMI-W (01810.HK)'s smartphones will gain more cross-selling opportunities from premium users, and thus gain more market share in the future.

The Group's share price weakened recently after the car accident and share placement, the report added. However, as its fundamentals remain sound, Daiwa believed that the share price decline is an attractive buying opportunity.

The broker raised its 2025-2027 EPS forecasts for the Group by 0.5-7.1%, and upgraded XIAOMI-W to Buy from Outperform, with its target price trimmed to $60 from $65.
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US President Donald Trump announced a series of reciprocal tariff measures last week. The market is worried that Apple (AAPL.US) will face multiple challenges in the supply chain and product pricing, etc..

Hong Kong-listed Apple concept stocks were sold off today. BofA Securities even said that Apple has no place to hide with reciprocal tariffs, and cut its target price on Apple to US$250.

AAC TECH (02018.HK) opened 12.94% lower, and bottomed at $28.3. The stock last printed at $34.65, nosediving 16.2%, with 12.451 million shares traded, involving $397 million. Q TECH (01478.HK) opened 14.94% lower, and bottomed at $5.41. It last printed at $5.76, down 18.07%, with 9.347 million shares traded, involving $52.1196 million.

COWELL (01415.HK) opened 14.86% lower today, and bottomed at $15.5. The stock last collapsed 30.04% to $17.42, with 12.134 million shares traded, involving $204 million.

In addition, SUNNY OPTICAL (02382.HK) also opened 14.93% lower, and bottomed at $55. It tumbled 15.43% to last at $58.9, with 12.2124 million shares traded, involving $701 million.
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