Fri January, 2021, Age: 3 years
China’s domestic competitor to Apple Inc., Xiaomi, is the latest Chinese company to be blacklisted by the U.S. for suspected ties to the Chinese military. Although US investment will be curtailed (barring a reversal by the incoming Biden administration), it is unlikely that Xiaomi will be as affected by the ban. Instead, it has been strengthened this year by US sanctions against rival smartphone producer Huawei, and Xiaomi’s shipments surpassed Apple for the first time in last year’s third quarter. The company has had time to hedge smartphone revenue with other low-tech products. Those business lines will be little affected by any escalation of US/China sanctions that cause disruptions to the smartphone supply chain.
