Recently, news that Chinese officials have banned the use of American iPhones in certain areas has aroused heated public opinion. On the eve of Apple's product launch, topics related to new models were once a hot topic on Weibo.
China expands restrictions on civil servants’ use of iPhones
The government's ban on Apple phones for working may have a chilling effect on foreign investment in China
Apple will launch the new generation iPhone 15 (i15) series at 1 a.m. Beijing time on the 13th. The Sina Weibo video account issued a message on the 12th, predicting changes in new models, and uploaded a short video of a foreign blogger talking about the 15 major improvements of the i15 Pro Max. Related topics attracted more than 200 million views on Weibo.
In addition, the related topic tagged "#iPhone15Which model will you buy?" has also been clicked by nearly 60 million people. The i15 Pro will be made of "grade five titanium" (Ti-6AI-4V) and plans to cancel the mute pick, all of which have become the focus of hot searches.
It is difficult for China to completely ban iPhone brand and performance blessings
Can China really ban iPhones? Lin Xiumin, an adjunct lecturer at the Department of Business Administration at Soochow University in Taiwan, said in an interview with this station that in China, Apple mobile phones are a status symbol. Unless the authorities take very strict measures to punish those who use Apple mobile phones, even if they are completely banned from sale There will still be people who use smuggling and selling. This is the market mechanism.
Lin Xiumin said: "I don't think China's official ban on the use of foreign mobile phones in state-owned enterprises and other institutions will affect iPhone sales. Because the i15 is far superior to Huawei's new phone in terms of smoothness and performance (reported to be TSMC's 3-nanometer chip). Because after all, Huawei has the same performance as 4 years ago (it is rumored to use SMIC’s 7nm chip).”
China’s official ban has policies and countermeasures
The Wall Street Journal recently revealed that Chinese government employees have received instructions in recent weeks to prohibit the use of Apple iPhones and other foreign-branded devices for official duties, and are not allowed to bring them into the office. Bloomberg also quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that China plans to extend the order to ban iPhones to government-supported institutions and sensitive departments of state-owned enterprises.
U.S. President Biden also recently mentioned that Chinese officials’ recent move to restrict state workers from using U.S.-designed iPhones is tantamount to trying to “change some of the rules of the trade game.”
Cai Shenkun, a commentator living in the United States, told this station that China has a distrustful attitude towards foreign electronic products or network products. During the past few years of the epidemic, China's party and government agencies and central enterprises have basically replaced all imported computers and software with domestically produced ones. Although users complain, this is a politically correct order that must be implemented. The reason why China has not publicly restricted Apple mobile phones is because in the past, the main production base of iPhones was located in China. China is worried about the invisible blow to foreign investment, so it has not dared to act rashly.
Cai Shenkun: "Now Apple's manufacturers have moved abroad. In this case, it does not need to care about the feelings of Western manufacturers, especially the major iPhone manufacturers. Therefore, it only issued this ban after Huawei's high-end mobile phones were launched."
Cai Shenkun said that although the Chinese government can prohibit civil servants from using Apple phones in official activities, it cannot restrict them outside official duties: "Civil servants or officials in party and government agencies who have the ability to purchase Apple will privately want to own an Apple with better confidentiality. cell phone."
Cai Shenkun predicts that although Huawei will start selling mobile phones before Apple’s new phone launch, Apple will not lose too much high-end share in China. Even if the economy is in recession, there are still many people who can afford Apple's high-end mobile phones.
According to the "Apple iPhone Global Shipment Report for the Second Quarter of 2023" released by TechInsights, a professional research and research organization, Apple has a market share of 13.5% in China's smartphone market, with an annual increase of 6.1%. It is the only one among the top five manufacturers. A brand whose sales volume is growing.
Is Huawei's hype about satellite phone functions really better than the iPhone?
It can be found that in discussions about Apple’s new phones in China, the topic of Huawei’s new phones is always inseparable. Huawei's new phone avoids chip production issues, while social media deliberately emphasizes and hypes the satellite phone function.
Lin Xiumin analyzed that Huawei’s satellite phone is connected to China’s Tiantong-1 satellite. Currently, only China Telecom users can use mobile phone direct connection to satellite services. In other words, other telecom customers who bought new Huawei phones were unable to make satellite calls: "The typical packaging does not match the actual functions. You told me it was a satellite phone, but I couldn't use it after I bought it because it can only be used on certain phones. Conditional use is cheating."
Lin Xiumin pointed out in an article dismantling Huawei's new phone that many people think that Huawei's new phone's satellite communication function surpasses the iPhone 14 mainly because of its text messaging function, and then concludes that it surpasses the iPhone. This is a misunderstanding of satellite communication.
He said that the main area covered by China's Tiantong-1 satellite is limited to the relevant sea areas of China and neighboring countries, and does not cover the whole world; while Globalstar, which the iPhone 14 cooperates with, is a low-orbit satellite group covering the world, and its services theoretically cover the world. To use this satellite function, Huawei Mate60 users must manually align their satellite positions directly; but i14 can automatically connect to satellites (such as Starlink) passing over the user at the time. The technical difficulty and future expansion capacity of the two are completely different.
Pakistan Airline : Five planes grounded due to non-payment of leases
Abdullah Hafeez Khan, spokesperson of the national airline, confirmed the decision regarding the grounding of five PIA planes and said that new recruitments are being made to run the day-to-day affairs.
Pakistan's national airline PIA has recently decided to ground five aircraft citing lack of funds to continue flight operations, while on the other hand it has also issued tenders for new recruitments in various fields.
In the tender issued by PI, applications are sought for 210 posts including pilots, air hostesses, flight stewards, IT personnel.
Spokesperson PIA Abdullah Hafeez Khan, when contacted by Independent Urdu, said: 'PIA has decided to ground five of the leased aircraft due to lack of funds a few days ago.'
Abdullah Hafeez Khan said that due to the grounding of the aircraft, some international operations of the national airline may be affected, including flights to Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah.
Most of PIA's flights go to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East.
He clarified that the grounding of the five planes will not affect the operations of other countries, including flights to the continental United States.
When asked about the reason for grounding the planes, Abdullah Hafeez Khan said: 'Due to lack of funds, PIA is unable to pay the lease amount of the planes acquired from foreign companies and therefore the planes were forced to be grounded.'
When asked about the new posts despite lack of funds, the PIA spokesperson said that the planes were grounded due to non-availability of lease funds and the use of the same planes will be resumed when money is available.
He explained that a national airline requires staff for running and day-to-day operations.
Abdullah Hafeez Khan said that the Supreme Court of Pakistan had banned new recruitments in PIA since 2017, while many employees retired and many were fired.
"PIA is facing severe shortage of employees especially pilots. Therefore, tenders for new posts were issued.
He said that it may take at least eight months to fill the new posts.
Talking about the future of the grounded planes, the spokesperson of the national airline said that a loan of 11 billion dollars has been approved for PIA and this money will be received by the company in some time.
"As soon as this amount is received, the lease of the grounded aircraft will be paid and they will be made operational again."
Last week, the Federal Ministry of Aviation had warned the caretaker government that dues owed to creditors of national airlines, aircraft leasing, fuel and fuel companies, international and domestic airport operators and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Supply of Boeing Triple Seven and Airbus spare parts to PIA may stop by mid-September.
In such a case, PIA may have to ground more planes.
In August, the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) had frozen 13 bank accounts of PIA for non-payment of dues of Rs.
PIA aircraft
PIA has acquired 15 aircrafts on lease from various companies of the world and this number will be reduced to 10 after the grounding of five aircrafts.
New Delhi : If you take advice from financial guru on social media then be alert, SEBI is preparing for strict action
Now market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is going to bring new guidelines to stop this practice going on indiscriminately on social media. Recently, SEBI has told that it is preparing such a regulation, in which investors will be protected from fake information and being misguided.
These days the number of influencers on social media is increasing rapidly. They have nothing to do with the stock market, but they recommend stocks. Share wrong data. Advise people on crypto market. There are a large number of such influencers on social media platforms who provide unauthorized financial advice in the market. Such influencers have thousands and lakhs of subscribers. His videos also get a good number of views. But, it is not necessary that every information given by them is correct. Many times investors invest money after watching their reels or videos, which costs them a lot. Now SEBI is making rules and regulations to take strict action against such influencers.
Now market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is going to bring new guidelines to stop this practice going on indiscriminately on social media. Recently, SEBI has told that it is preparing such a regulation, in which investors will be protected from fake information and being misguided.
Not everyone will be able to provide market knowledge
- these influencers find a special way to avoid accountability. They put a disclaimer in their videos or posts that they are not registered with SEBI. By doing this they think that now they will be saved from accountability, but this will not happen now.
-SEBI has made it clear that merely doing this will not fulfill your responsibility. Soon financial influencers will have to get registered with SEBI.
-SEBI guidelines will have to be followed. A ban has also been proposed on partnership with mutual fund companies and share brokers.
-You will have to disclose your name, qualification, registration number in the video or post giving financial tips or advice.
-There will be similar rules for all types of financial advice. Whereas for insurance related advice, license will have to be obtained from IRDAI.
What is the reason for strictness?
- It is asked to take advice from an economic expert regarding investment.
- There is a flood of financial influencers on social media.
- Most financial influencers on social media are not certified.
Investing on their opinion is often costly.
- Many times influencers take benefits from a company and talk in its favor.
There are reports of influencers taking up to Rs 7.5 lakh for one post.
Therefore, considering the danger to investors, SEBI is in favor of tightening the rules.
What do experts say?
NDTV spoke to financial influencer Himani Choudhary, Value Research Company CEO Dhirendra Kumar and financial influencer Harsh Goyla regarding SEBI's strictness. Himani Chaudhary said, "Till date, I have never worked with any broker on commission basis. Talking about the strictness of SEBI, I have started the process for registration. I am also eligible for it."
Financial influencer Harsh Goyla says, "Everyone I know in the financial influencer community is taking SEBI's move as a welcome change. Obviously, things were getting out of control. That's why SEBI had to take such decisions. I would like to say that the entire community is not bad, but there are some people who create confusion. I hope things will improve with the changes made by SEBI."
At the same time, Dhirendra Kumar, CEO of Value Research Company, said, "It was necessary for SEBI to take such steps. SEBI does not have a problem with financial influencers, but has a problem with western interest. It is very important to remove this, so that things work out in the interest of investors. yes."
It was revealed that these financial influencers charge up to Rs 7.5 lakh for one post on social media and influence the financial decisions of people with their opinion. However, now they will have to come under the purview of the regulator.