TikTok isn’t the only app from a Chinese company that is the subject of an executive order from President Donald Trump that affects U.S. mobile device users. Trump has banned American companies from doing business with WeChat. For those of you unfamiliar with it, WeChat is a messaging, social media, and mobile payment app that was launched by Tencent in 2011. Seven years later it became the most widely used standalone app with more than 1 billion people relying on the “super app.”
Executive Order against WeChat could backfire to hurt Apple, help Huawei
WeChat shares its user data with the Chinese government and censors certain topics of a political nature. And while the order would prevent transactions made by WeChat with U.S. corporations, it may have an unintended effect; the order prevents Apple from distributing WeChat through the App Store. This could result in lower iPhone sales in China where the app is used for many things such as email, browsing, shopping, and making payments.
Unlike the executive order that bans TikTok in the U.S., which can be overturned with a purchase of the app’s U.S. operations, there doesn’t seem to be an easy way around the WeChat order. There are 43 days left and counting.
