Business | New battlegrounds

Apple is only the latest casualty of the Sino-American tech war

The conflict also has some surprising winners

A light box advertising Huawei Mate 60 mobile phone is seen in front of the Apple store on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, China, September 13, 2023. — Check MateImage: Getty Images

Sep 14th 2023|SAN FRANCISCO AND SHANGHAI

Few events in the tech calendar create as much buzz as the release of the latest iPhone. On September 12th Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, unveiled what he called “truly incredible” new devices. Yet it was an earlier, quieter launch of a rival gadget that left the tech world gobsmacked. In late August, with no forewarning, Huawei showed off the Mate 60 Pro. As the first fully Chinese-made smartphone that can tap into 5G networks, it was an instant hit. The processors inside it were made by SMIC, China’s chipmaking champion. It is exactly this type of technology that America has been trying to stop Huawei and other Chinese companies from getting their hands on.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Apple scarred”