Tencent’s gaming surge trumps potential loss of the one or two percent of cash it makes in America

Chinese web giant Tencent has reported strong growth and brushed off the potential impact of the USA’s proposed ban on its WeChat service and cloud operation. The goliath yesterday posted Q2 revenue of $16.2bn, up 29 percent year on year, while operating profit popped 38 percent to reach $5.3bn. Revenue and profit for the half …

[Fazal Majid]

WeChat dominance

WeChat dominates in China to an extent we can hardly understand in the West. It’s the reason why iOS has hardly any stickiness in China. If the Trump administration bans WeChat from the App Store, Apple’s sales in China will simply collapse (presumably to Huawei’s benefit).

[DS999]

Re: WeChat dominance

Apple has different app stores for different countries. Trump can't ban Apple from offering the TenCent app in Chinese app stores. It would be a pretty big inconvenience to Chinese people living in the US if they couldn't get it here.

And the company that operates that app store is "Apple China", which while it is owned by Apple is not the same company. Trump would have to really stretch to find a way to stop them offering it there, and they can fight it in court a lot longer than he can remain in office given current polls.

[Sgt_Oddball]

Re: WeChat dominance

You think it being a separate company would stop him? I admire your optimism.

Same goes with him leaving the office easily...

Nuclear icon because you know he's been eyeing up that red button..

[TheInstigator]

Re: WeChat dominance

The paranoia is amazing and reached epic proportions.

I'm guessing Trump & co's thinking is now the only way to "contain" China and to ensure "clean networks" and basically ensure the entire human species (apart from the Chinese obviously) are safe is to wipe them out as a race.

If that's correct then there's a name for that - and if you mentioned this about any other race you'd get into quite a bit of hot water.

[DS999]

Re: WeChat dominance

Trump needed to paint China as the USSR reborn, because part of his election strategy was to paint Biden as being overly friendly to China. But apparently we're all supposed to overlook Trump's bootlicking of Putin.

[big_D]

So...

Logical extension, as an EU citizen, I shouldn't be using Zoom, Teams, Skype, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple etc. as they are a national security threat, as they are bound by FISA, NSA letters, Patriot Act etc. to provide information to the US Government upon request, without my written permission or a valid EU warrant, which is required under EU law for EU citizens' data...

[Kevin Johnston]

Re: So...

Hey...sounds like a plan to me :)

[BigSLitleP]

Re: So...

Not forgetting that you also shouldn't use any piece of Cisco equipment on your network, as the NSA can jump on and inspect your traffic without you being any the wiser. At this point, i'm thinking we need to remove all their kit from Europe as it seems to be a very dangerous security threat. We don't want our info getting in to the hands of a foreign enemy power now, do we?

[FeepingCreature]

Re: So...

Yes, exactly. As an EU citizen, I agree completely.

Not sure what that has to do with Trump or Tencent. I'd have said the same under Obama. This has been true for a long time. Remember when the Room 641A thing came out?

[big_D]

Re: So...

Yes this goes back to at least President Shrub.

But it is Trumps' actions during his term of demonizing Chinese companies with no evidence, when there is plenty of evidence that US companies are compelled to do exactly what he is claiming of the Chinese - just look at intercepts of HP networking equipment that received extra NSA goodness, before being delivered, Cisco's more-than-2 year battle to remove one back door after another from their kit, US judicial overreach to servers on Irish soil, owned by Irish companies, the list goes on, and yes, much of it started before Trump, but it is his hypocritical stance that beggars belief.

If you want to accuse the Chinese companies of being in collusion with the Chinese government, get your own house in order first!

[FeepingCreature]

Re: So...

I mean sure, there's a special irony to the US saying this. It's still true (for both of them) though. Like, from a EU perspective while this is amusing, US companies wouldn't be any more palatable without Trump's blustering.

[TheInstigator]

Re: So...

No No No !

(BTW Zoom is Chinese) - however with the other examples you mentioned - they're American and therefore developed by a country which is the by word for truth, freedom, democracy and the rule of law

Every other country in the world aspires to be America - you'd do well to remember that - otherwise the US will help you to remember

[Pascal Monett]

Going to have to get used to it

The USA is not the only economy in the world any more. Chinese companies deal internationally, but they can very well grow inside their own country as well.

And if the US government throws a hissy fit every other President, then some Chinese companies are likely to start thinking that it's not worth the trouble.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, the explanation is kind of simple, really. Trump has a huge ego, so he thinks he matters, and being an American, he thinks America matters. He just can not fathom that there is an entire PLANET outside US borders that is full of customers. No one with any sense focuses on the American market except the Americans themselves, and except for their corporate CEOs, no one grasps that the US market is only a FRACTION of the global market for ANY products or services.