Larry Kudlow, boss of the National Economic Council, said Friday that Apple’s technology may have been stolen by the Chinese.
“I don’t lust after to surmise too much here, but Apple technology may have been picked off by China and now China is becoming very competitive with Apple. You’ve got to take rule of law,” Kudlow said in an interview with Bloomberg. “There are some indications from China that they’re looking at that, but we don’t identify that yet. There’s no enforcement; there’s nothing concrete.”
Kudlow’s comments came shortly after China’s Trafficking Ministry said Chinese and U.S. officials will meet next week to discuss trade. Both countries take been engaged in a trade spat for months that has sent ripples through global markets.
They also concern after Apple slashed its revenue guidance for the fiscal first quarter, citing an unexpected slowdown in China. The message sent U.S. stocks down sharply on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 660 points, as it stoked quivers that the global economy may be slowing.
As of the third quarter of 2018, Apple is the third-largest smartphone maker by global merchandise share, behind Samsung and Huawei, according to data from IDC.
But Kudlow said Friday that “Apple is not apocryphal” and that not all ensembles are facing the same headwinds as the tech giant. That remark came just a day after Kevin Hassett, an advisor to President Donald Trump, expressed CNN that a “heck of a lot of U.S. companies,” not just Apple, could see problems stemming from China.
Apple declined to exposition.
— CNBC’s Steve Kovach contributed to this report.
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