TikTok is extremely tense before G-hour

According to The Verge , TikTok's internal notice said that the company "continues to plan the way forward." The US Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on the fate of the Chinese app on January 15 (local time).

“We know it’s unsettling to not know what’s going to happen next,” the statement said. However, TikTok’s office will remain open for the next few days.

Things are very bleak inside TikTok, according to The Verge. One source described the situation as “very tense,” while another noted that even employees who survived the company’s previous tough times are not doing well.

While TikTok may fade into obscurity when the time comes, that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. If the company sells itself to an American buyer, it could come back.

Billionaire Frank McCourt has expressed his desire to buy TikTok. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to save TikTok from a ban through a number of deals.

However, the ban will take effect on January 19 if the app does not divest all of its Chinese capital, a day before he returns to the White House.

Revealing the reason for sinking iPhone sales

Data from Counterpoint Research shows that the iPhone's market share has fallen to just 18% in 2024. Similarly, Samsung Electronics has also been overwhelmed by Chinese Android smartphone makers such as Xiaomi and Vivo.

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Lack of artificial intelligence (AI) features in China causes global iPhone sales to decline. Photo: PhoneArena

For the full year 2024, Apple's sales are expected to decline by about 2% amid a 4% global market growth.

In September, the Cupertino-based company launched the iPhone 16 series with a suite of AI Intelligence features that will be rolled out in phases.

However, users in China will not be able to use these updates because Apple has not received approval from mainland authorities.

Bloomberg said China is now the largest market for Apple (outside the US). The company is also rushing to establish partnerships with local companies to launch AI features such as text-writing assistance and image generation.

“The iPhone 16 series has received mixed reviews, partly due to the lack of Apple Intelligence at launch,” said Tarun Pathak, director at Counterpoint. “However, Apple continues to grow strongly in non-core markets such as Latin America.”

Lenovo Motorola, Huawei and Honor are the fastest growing brands in the top 10, according to the study. Chinese smartphone makers are all developing their own in-house AI tools and agents, including services that can perform tasks on behalf of users.

According to IDC, in the fourth quarter of 2024, Chinese smartphone manufacturers accounted for 56% of global device shipments as they expanded their market share in Europe and Africa in the low-cost and mid-range segments.

US imposes ban on AI chip exports

On January 13, the administration of President Joe Biden announced a new export ban on chips used in AI to many countries, including China.

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Nvidia is one of the companies that has spoken out against the US's new chip export restrictions. Photo: Nvidia

Under the latest export ban, the US will allow 20 close allies and partners unrestricted access to AI-related semiconductor chips, but will require most other countries to seek permission, a move that was immediately opposed by the domestic semiconductor industry.

The Financial Times commented that the purpose of the policy is to prevent China from being able to bypass current restrictions through other countries to obtain technology used in nuclear weapons models to hypersonic missiles.

The policy creates a three-tier licensing system for chips used in data centers. The top tier includes G7 members and countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan (China), the Netherlands and Ireland.

The third tier includes countries such as China, Iran, Russia and North Korea. The middle tier includes more than 100 countries, with export license restrictions.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the policy ensures the new controls do not “stifle American innovation or technological leadership.” However, it has sparked a backlash from the domestic semiconductor industry. The EU has also condemned the new rules.

Unnamed industry sources criticized the move, calling it an unprecedented step that shows Washington is trying to micromanage the global chip supply chain to the detriment of its allies and its own companies such as Nvidia, AMD, Dell and Supermicro.

Industry sources expressed hope that the incoming Trump administration would roll back the controls.