*By Michael Teich*
Though iPhones and Mac computers made in China have been spared U.S. tariffs, the brewing trade war between Washington and Beijing could finally catch up with Apple, the world's most valuable publicly traded company.
None of the tariffs considered by the Trump administration so far have materially affected Apple's business, but in his third-quarter earnings call with analysts on Tuesday, Apple's CEO Tim Cook said it was too early to predict if other policies under consideration could affect the company's bottom line.
"Our view on tariffs is that they show up as a tax on the consumer and wind up resulting in lower economic growth," Cook said in Tuesday's call.
Mike Murphy of Quartz told Cheddar that consumers' willingness to pay for Apple's most expensive productーthe iPhone Xーis a good sign that even a trade-war inspired bump in prices for its other devices won't deter loyal iPhone users.
"If we have no problem buying a $1,000 phone, we'll probably have no problem buying a $1,100 phone," Murphy said in an interview Wednesday. The iPhone represents Apple's biggest source of revenue.
If tariffs were to hit Apple, they would likely affect the company's fastest-growing division, "Other Products," which includes Apple Watch, AirPods, and the HomePod.
Revenue from other products reached $3.74 billion in the third quarter, up 36 percent from a year earlier. Apple doesn't disclose exact numbers for the Apple Watch, but Cook said sales grew in the "mid-40 percent range."
Apple does not appear worried about the prospect of tariffs dampening its business. The Cupertino-based company delivered fiscal fourth quarter revenue guidance of between $60 billion and $62 billion, topping Wall Street's estimate of $59.47 billion, according to StreetAccount.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/apple-spared-trumps-tariffs-for-now).
The UK-based augmented reality startup, Dent Reality, raised the equivalent of $3.4 million USD in its most recent funding round. Dent Reality has created an AR app for smartphones that helps shoppers navigate retail locations by providing a layout of a store's aisles, while showing where to find specific items. The company works mainly with grocery stores but aims to integrate its tech with all types of physical spaces. Dent Reality CEO Andrew Hart joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The world is amidst a skyscraper boom. In 2018, 146 buildings over 650 feet were constructed. That’s more than the total amount of skyscrapers constructed between 1979 and 1999. And all this construction is transforming our cities.
It’s no secret that America’s infrastructure is aging. The average American bridge is 43 years old. 49% of our streets and highways are in poor condition. That’s why rebuilding our roads is near the top of President Biden’s to-do list. But repaving is just surface level, some suggest we need to rethink the structures themselves.
Throughout history, humans have tried their best to predict what the future will look like. Today, it’s fun to look back and laugh at some of the wacky conceptual drawings of “cities of the future”. While the majority of these ideas look silly today, some concepts almost became our reality, if not for a few key shortcoming.
The streaming wars could be peaking as platforms vie for a shrinking pool of new subscribers and services like Disney+ recalibrate their outlooks as the rate of new memberships slows. Jana Arbanas, the U.S. telecom, media, and technology sector leader at Deloitte, joined Cheddar to discuss the 2022 outlook for streaming platforms, expecting more than 150 million people to cancel subscriptions adding to the global churn trend. "People are signing up for a service for a very specific piece of original, compelling content, watching that, perhaps, season of content, dropping that service, and then re-upping the service again when the next season comes out," Arbanas noted.
TikTok isn't just for remixing the best trending sounds. The social media platform is having a positive impact on animal shelters and helping pets find forever homes, according to Katie Grissum, the communications and design coordinator for the non-profit animal shelter charity KC Pet Project. Grissum joined Cheddar to break down just how TikTok is being used to raise money and draw more eyes to animals in need of adoption.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri is slated to testify this week in front of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee after a Wall Street Journal report that found the Meta-owned social media platform is negatively impacting the mental wellness of teen girls.
