95% Of Chinese Users Would Give Up Their iPhone Rather Than Lose WeChat

As some of you might have heard, the US government is considering banning apps such as WeChat in their ongoing trade war with China. It was previously suggested that such a ban could result in a 30% decline of iPhone sales, but a new survey suggests that it could actually be much worse.

In a survey made on Weibo and discovered by Bloomberg, it seems that 95% of those surveyed claim that they are more likely to give up their iPhone rather than lose access to WeChat. As we had pointed out previously, WeChat is more than just a messaging app. The app is multifaceted in China and various places in the world.

Users can use the app to make mobile payments to retailers, send money to each other, play games, pay their bills, purchase public transportation tickets, and so on. Also, given that China prevents other communication apps like Facebook Messenger from working, there are those living outside of China that rely on the app to keep in touch with friends, family members, or business partners in China.

However, it is unclear how this ban will work. Will it only ban WeChat from being used in the US? Or will Apple be forced to remove the app from their App Store and affect users around the world? We’ll have to wait and find out, but assuming the latter, it could spell big trouble for Apple.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: China, iPhone, Legal, wechat