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Apple is losing market share in China due to declining iPhone shipments, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a report on Friday. The stock slid 2.4%.

“Apple has adopted a cautious stance when discussing 2025 iPhone production plans with key suppliers,” Kuo, an analyst at TF Securities, wrote in the post. He added that despite the expected launch of the new iPhone SE 4, shipments are expected to decline 6% year over year for the first half of 2025.

Kuo expects Apple’s market share to continue to slide, as two of the coming iPhones are so thin that they likely will only support eSIM, which the Chinese market currently does not promote.

“These two models could face shipping momentum challenges unless their design is modified,” he wrote.

Kuo wrote that in December, overall smartphone shipments in China were flat from a year earlier, but iPhone shipments dropped 10% to 12%.

There is also “no evidence” that Apple Intelligence, the company’s on-device artificial intelligence offering, is driving hardware upgrades or services revenue, according to Kuo. He wrote that the feature “has not boosted iPhone replacement demand,” according to a supply chain survey he conducted, and added that in his view, the feature’s appeal “has significantly declined compared to cloud-based AI services, which have advanced rapidly in subsequent months.”

Apple’s estimated iPhone shipments total about 220 million units for 2024 and between about 220 million and 225 million for this year, Kuo wrote. That is “below the market consensus of 240 million or more,” he wrote.

Apple did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

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TikTok says it will go dark on Sunday unless Biden intervenes

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TikTok says it will go dark on Sunday unless Biden intervenes

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TikTok said its services will go dark on Sunday without a guarantee from the Biden administration that it won’t punish Apple, Google and other service providers if they support the app.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” TikTok said in a statement on Friday.

The statement indicates that TikTok’s American users base, which the company claims is over 170 million, will not be able to use the service when they open the app or website on Sunday.

TikTok issued the statement after the Supreme Court on Friday ruled unanimously to uphold a law requiring that service providers no longer support its app within the U.S. if parent company ByteDance fails to carry out a “qualified divestiture” of the app by Sunday. As a result, Apple, Google and Oracle could face tough penalties if they fail to adhere to the law.

“The statements issued today by both the Biden White House and the Department of Justice have failed to provide the necessary clarity and assurance to the service providers that are integral to maintaining TikTok’s availability to over 170 million Americans,” TikTok said in its statement.

However, Biden’s term ends on Monday, when President-elect Donald Trump begins his second term in the White House. Trump, who previously supported a TikTok ban, later flip-flopped on the matter. In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause the law’s implementation and allow his administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”

In a Friday post on his social media app Truth Social, Trump wrote, “My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!”

Earlier Friday, the Biden administration issued a statement saying TikTok “should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership.”

“Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday,” the statement said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland and Lisa Monaco, his deputy, said in a release that the decision “enables the Justice Department to prevent the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to undermine America’s national security.”

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Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

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Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban, but Trump might offer lifeline

Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok by Sunday or face an effective ban of the popular social video app in the U.S.

ByteDance has so far refused to sell TikTok, meaning many U.S. users could lose access to the app this weekend. The app may still work for those who already have TikTok on their phones, although ByteDance has also threatened to shut the app down.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which President Joe Biden signed in April.

“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the Supreme Court’s opinion said. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”

Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch wrote concurrences.

TikTok’s fate in the U.S. now lies in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump,  who originally favored a TikTok ban during his first administration, but has since flip-flopped on the matter. In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause the law’s implementation and allow his administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”

In a post on his social media app Truth Social, Trump wrote that the decision was expected “and everyone must respect it.”

“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump wrote.

Trump began to speak more favorably of TikTok after he met in February with billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass. Yass is a major ByteDance investor who also owns a stake in the owner of Truth Social.

Trump will be inaugurated Monday, one day after the TikTok deadline for a sale. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is one of several tech leaders expected to be in attendance, seated on the dais. 

In a video posted on TikTok, Chew thanked Trump “for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available” in the U.S. He said use of TikTok is a First Amendment right, adding that over 7 million American businesses use it to make money and find customers.

“Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives as your online home for limitless creativity and discovery as well as a source of inspiration and joy for years to come,” he said.

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The nation’s highest court said in the opinion that while “data collection and analysis is a common practice in this digital age,” the sheer size of TikTok and its “susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects” poses a national security concern.

Under the terms of the law, third-party internet service providers such as Apple and Google will be penalized for supporting a ByteDance-owned TikTok after the Jan. 19 deadline.

If service providers and app store owners comply, consumers will be unable to install the necessary updates that make the app functional.

Representatives of TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Users look for alternatives

Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, speaks to reporters outside the office of Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) at the Russell Senate Office Building on March 14, 2024 in Washington, DC.

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On Jan. 10, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from lawyers representing TikTok, content creators and the U.S. government. TikTok’s lead lawyer, Noel Francisco, argued that the law violates the First Amendment rights of the app’s 170 million American users. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that the app’s alleged ties to the Chinese government pose a national security threat.  

Many TikTok creators have been telling their fans to find them on competing social platforms such as Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, CNBC reported. Additionally, Instagram leaders scheduled meetings after the Jan. 10 Supreme Court hearing to direct workers to prepare for a wave of users if the court upholds the law.

Chinese social media app and TikTok look-alike RedNote rose to the top of Apple’s app store Monday, indicating that TikTok’s millions of users were seeking alternatives.

The Chinese government also weighed a contingency plan that would have X owner Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of several options intended to keep the app from its effective ban in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Should ByteDance decide to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or group of investors, potential buyers may have to pay between $40 billion and $50 billion, according to an estimate by CFRA Research Senior Vice President Angelo Zino.

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Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd to return as CEO

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Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd to return as CEO

Whitney Wolfe Herd speaks onstage in Dana Point, California.

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Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will return to the company as CEO, a little more than a year after she stepped down from the role, the company announced Friday.

The company’s current CEO Lidiane Jones has resigned for “personal reasons,” Bumble said. Jones previously served as the CEO of Salesforce’s cloud-based messaging platform Slack. She will continue to helm Bumble until Wolfe Herd takes over in mid-March.

“I am deeply grateful for the transformative work Lidiane has led during such a pivotal time for Bumble, and her leadership has been instrumental in building a strong foundation for our future,” Wolfe Herd said in a statement.

Bumble is a dating app that encourages women to make the first move. Wolfe Herd founded the company in 2014 in an effort to foster a safer online dating community. Bumble went public through a successful initial public offering in 2021, but its market cap has tumbled from its debut of $7.7 billion to around $847 million.

The company said Friday that it expects to report total revenue and Bumble App revenue above the midpoint of its provided outlook ranges for its fourth quarter, and adjusted EBITDA within the disclosed outlook range.

Shares of the company popped 6% in premarket trading on Friday.

In addition to the CEO transition, Bumble said Ann Mather, who serves as a lead director at the company, will become chair of the board of directors.

“We are fortunate to have a passionate and engaged founder in Whitney to drive Bumble’s vision as the Company accelerates the execution of its strategy,” Mather said in a statement.

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