On April 9, the so - called "reciprocal tariffs" of the US government came into effect.
Affected by this news, the stock price of Apple (AAPL) declined for four consecutive days. According to Wind data, Apple's stock price dropped nearly 23% in four consecutive trading days, and its total market value evaporated by more than $770 billion (approximately 56.6 trillion yuan). As of the close on April 8, Eastern Time, Apple's stock fell 4.98% to $172.42 per share, with a market value of $2590.1 billion, losing its position as the company with the highest market value to Microsoft.
On April 9, Apple's stock opened at $172.179 per share.
In the domestic market, after the Central Huijin Investment stepped in to stabilize the market on April 7, the A - share market witnessed a wave of collective share repurchases by listed companies. Among them, "Apple - chain" companies such as Luxshare Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (002475.SZ), Goertek Inc. (002241.SZ), and Lens Technology Co., Ltd. (300433.SZ) all announced share repurchase plans.
On April 9, the decline of the stock prices of Apple - chain enterprises narrowed. Lens Technology closed down 2.18%, Shenzhen Flexium Interconnect Co., Ltd. (002938.SZ) closed down 3.85%, Leader Intelligent Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (002600.SZ) closed down 1.46%, Luxshare Precision Industry closed down 1.1%, Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (002384.SZ) closed down 3.58%, and Goertek Inc. closed down 0.37%.
While actively repurchasing shares, supply - chain enterprises are still exploring ways to avoid the increase in production costs caused by tariff fluctuations. Currently, many enterprises have publicly stated that they have previously reduced the impact of additional tariffs through global layout or trading models such as bonded areas, FOB (Free on Board), and DAP (Delivered at Place) including freight.
Source of the picture: TuChong Creative
The "leader of the Apple - chain" plans to repurchase shares worth up to 2 billion yuan
On April 8, Luxshare Precision Industry, a company with a market value of 200 billion yuan and known as the "leader of the Apple - chain", announced a large - scale share repurchase and executive share - increasing plan. The announcement stated that Luxshare Precision Industry plans to repurchase shares with a total capital of no less than 1 billion yuan and no more than 2 billion yuan. The upper limit of the repurchase price is 150% of the average trading price of the company's stock in the 30 trading days before the board of directors passed the resolution on share repurchase.
Meanwhile, Wang Laisheng, one of the actual controllers and the vice - chairman of Luxshare Precision Industry, plans to use his own funds to increase his holdings of the company's shares through the Shenzhen Stock Exchange system. The proposed amount of share - increasing is no less than 200 million yuan and no more than 300 million yuan, and it will be completed within six months from the date of the announcement of this share - increasing plan.
Picture: Screenshot of Luxshare Precision Industry's announcement
On the same day, Leader Intelligent Manufacturing also announced that Zeng Fangqin, the actual controller and the chairman of the company, proposed that the company repurchase some shares, with a total repurchase capital of no less than 50 million yuan and no more than 100 million yuan. Lens Technology announced that it plans to use its own funds or self - raised funds to repurchase some of its issued RMB common stocks (A - shares) through centralized bidding transactions for the implementation of employee stock ownership plans or equity incentive plans. The repurchase amount is no less than 500 million yuan (inclusive) and no more than 1 billion yuan (inclusive).
Dongshan Precision Manufacturing announced that it plans to repurchase shares worth between 100 million yuan and 200 million yuan, and the upper limit of the repurchase price is no higher than 150% of the average trading price of the company's stock in the 30 trading days before the board of directors reviewed and approved the share - repurchase plan. The repurchase period is within 12 months from the date when the board of directors reviewed and approved the share - repurchase plan.
On April 9, Goertek Inc. issued an announcement saying that it received a letter from Chairman Jiang Bin proposing to repurchase the company's shares. The total repurchase capital is no less than 500 million yuan (inclusive) and no more than 1 billion yuan (inclusive). The upper limit of the repurchase price is no higher than 150% of the average trading price of the company's stock in the 30 trading days before the board of directors reviewed and approved the share - repurchase plan.
While Apple - chain enterprises are actively repurchasing shares, the government has also provided strong support to private enterprises. On the morning of April 8, a symposium was held, and Leader Intelligent Manufacturing and Goertek Inc. participated in the meeting. The meeting listened to the implementation and suggestions of macro - policies at the micro - enterprise level, measures and suggestions to deal with the additional tariffs imposed by the US, and opinions and suggestions on stabilizing foreign trade and employment.
Leader Intelligent Manufacturing previously stated that it has 58 production and service sites and 8 high - end assembly bases globally, including in many countries and regions such as Turkey, Brazil, India, and the US. It can quickly respond to customer needs and achieve full - scale local operations and global product delivery. The company is located in the middle - upstream part of the industrial chain, and the export of its main products is completed through domestic bonded areas, effectively avoiding tariff risks and having a strong ability to digest supply - chain fluctuations.
How likely is it to avoid taxes?
Now that the additional tariffs have come into effect, what strategies do Apple - chain enterprises have to deal with the "reciprocal tariffs"? According to a professional, under the current reciprocal tariff policy, according to relevant announcements, the most likely safe - haven or the area that will not be affected by the additional tariffs on the US for the time being is processing trade enterprises. For example, an enterprise can import bonded raw materials or components (bonded materials) originating from the US with a processing trade manual, and then re - export all the finished products after processing.
The professional also said that in the counter - tariff policy against the US announced by the Tariff Policy Commission of the State Council, it is clearly stated that "the current bonded and tax - exemption policies remain unchanged". This means that as long as the General Administration of Customs does not adjust the specific implementation methods of the bonded policy in the future, processing trade enterprises can still enjoy the convenience of the bonded policy and do not need to pay import taxes including additional tariffs when importing bonded materials through processing trade. However, if the bonded materials or finished products in the manual are sold domestically, the additional tariff part will not be exempted, and the enterprise still needs to bear this cost.
Previously, some Apple - chain enterprises also said that they could effectively avoid tariff risks through domestic bonded areas. A supply - chain insider said that supply - chain companies deliver products from bonded areas to downstream assembly suppliers, and the assembly locations include both overseas and domestic. For the supply of components to overseas assembly plants, the company uses FOB (Free on Board) and DAP (Delivered at Place) including freight trading models in transactions with overseas customers. The company is not involved in tariff payment, and the customer on the importing side bears the tariff.
However, according to some news, Apple may negotiate with its supply chain to get these supply - chain companies to offer lower prices, or further adjust the supply chain by dispersing component suppliers/product assemblers around the world to deal with tariff challenges so that Apple can still guarantee its profit margin under the latest tariff policy of the US authorities. However, judging from the 2024 annual reports of many Apple - chain enterprises released recently, the gross profit margins of most Apple - chain companies are not very high. If the cost is passed on, their profits may be under pressure in the later stage.
In 2024, the gross profit margins of Goertek Inc.'s precision component business, intelligent acoustic whole - machine business, and intelligent hardware business were 21.51%, 9.47%, and 9.17% respectively. The gross profit margin of Lens Technology's smartphone and computer products was 15.11%, and that of its smart headset and smart wearable products was 19.76%. Leader Intelligent Manufacturing only disclosed that the gross profit margin of its AI terminals was 17.41%. The gross profit margin of Shenzhen Flexium Interconnect's communication board business was 18.17%, and that of its consumer electronics and computer board business was 27.02%.
Among them, Shenzhen Flexium Interconnect listed its operating income in the US region in its 2024 financial report, which was 28.885 billion yuan, accounting for 82.20% of the total revenue, with a gross profit margin of 20.51%.
In terms of the degree of dependence on major customers, in 2024, the sales proportion of Goertek Inc. to its first - major customer was 31.96%, compared with 43.38% in 2023. The sales proportion of Leader Intelligent Manufacturing to its first - major customer in 2024 was 22.07%, compared with 24.22% in 2023. In 2024, the sales proportion of Lens Technology to its first - major customer was 49.45%, compared with 57.83% in 2023. That is, the degree of dependence of these companies on their first - major customers has decreased to varying degrees.
Stockpiling for buffering?
However, the terminal products are under greater pressure. Market news said that Apple has launched an "emergency action" to deal with the cost increase caused by the "reciprocal tariffs". On April 8, according to some media reports, in the last few days before the "reciprocal tariff stick" was waved, five planes full of Apple products such as iPhones took off from India to the US.
TrendForce observed that the shipments of servers, smartphones, and laptops in the first quarter of 2025 were all better than expected, mainly because enterprises shipped products in advance in response to the US tariffs. Li Yaqin, the general manager of Sigmaintell, also said that the expectation of tariff increase has disrupted the inventory - preparation rhythm of the supply chain. Enterprises have artificially increased their inventory levels to prevent tariff risks, which has disrupted the normal off - peak and peak season rhythm of the consumer electronics market.
However, according to a supply - chain insider, the new US tariff policy has not had a significant impact on order fluctuations so far. It is understood that in the tariff exemption policy issued by the US, an exemption threshold of "US content ≥ 20%" is set for electronic products. The product types cover the entire electronic manufacturing industry chain, including consumer electronics (such as smartphones, AR/VR devices), communication equipment (optical modules, servers), and industrial automation equipment. If the value of components or technologies originating from the US accounts for ≥ 20% of the completed - tax price of the product (such as chips, software, precision instruments, etc.), the product can directly obtain tariff exemption.
TrendForce pointed out that if the 20% US - value - related regulations are loosely interpreted, mid - to - high - end smartphones may all be applicable. Under the baseline scenario, the annual increase in smartphone production in 2025 will be revised down to be the same as the previous year. If the tariff conflict weakens the global economic performance in the future, the smartphone market will face greater challenges, and the production volume may decline by 5% year - on - year.
Li Yaqin also said that the current situation poses a great challenge to the resilience of enterprises. The ability of enterprises to respond depends on important factors such as strategic judgment, diversity of supply - chain layout, and the enterprise's own profitability.
