A few things on my radar #17
Nezha 2, Chinese brands‘ response to Trump’s tariffs and Apple
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P.S. I'm traveling right now — so this issue was written entirely on iPhone. Source links will be added later, as mobile editing is challenging. Sorry about that.
Nezha 2 🎬
"Ne Zha 2" becomes world’s fifth highest - grossing film ever, box office continues to climb
Ne Zha 2 has earned RMB 14.86B ($2.054B) in China, plus $31M internationally, bringing its global total to $2.085B - surpassing Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.071B) to become the fifth highest-grossing film ever, reported by Deadline on March 16th.
Now — only "Titanic," "Avatar: The Way of Water," "Avengers: Endgame," and "Avatar" rank higher, and it remains to be seen how far "Ne Zha 2" will ascend in the global all-time rankings.
The political impact of this film on Chinese audiences may have been underestimated.
Beyond its mythological elements, the film portrays a hero challenging established power structures—mirroring China's position in global politics. The emphasis on Nezha's resistance and his powerful declaration "I am mastering my own destiny" echoes narratives about standing firm against external pressures. When audiences connect emotionally with Nezha's journey, they encounter a deeper political metaphor: "China's fate should be determined by China, not anyone else."
While there is no evidence of CCP intervention in the content creation, I observe that most Chinese audiences clearly understand and strongly identify with the underlying message and China's position online.
From a business perspective, I see Nezha as a cultural product similar to Star Wars in its early days—both featuring thrilling storylines, compelling heroes, polished production, and powerful philosophical pillars — Nezha's unwavering defiance against an unjust fate parallels the Jedi's “force” to find light in darkness.
However, surpassing Star Wars in box office rankings doesn't mean Nezha has truly matched Star Wars' success.
Let’s be real — Compared to Star Wars, Nezha lacks an expansive story universe and merchandising ecosystem. The franchises are also poor in cultivating a dedicated fanbase, and its story has yet to strike a chord with audiences across different cultures.
Meaning — for Nezha to achieve Star Wars' strong cultural brand status remains a distant prospect. A more pragmatic goal for the Nezha team should be to focus on delivering exceptional upcoming films. If future installments cannot consistently exceed audience expectations, Nezha may become nothing more than a fleeting success.
Chinese brands’ response to Trump's tariffs 💰
The following information is compiled from public brand announcements and media coverage
ANTA 👟 (just officially entered the US market last year)
ANTA has just announced the acquisition of German outdoor apparel brand Jack Wolfskin, which has extensive sales channels in both China and Europe, demonstrating ANTA's intention to seek more markets growth outside the US — hedging against tariff risks.
Luxshare Precision 📱（Apple supplier)
Buying back shares after continuous stock price decline to stabilize market confidence. Rumors about plans to set up factories in the US were officially declared false.
Luckin ☕️ (planning to open stores in the US this year)
At present, there are no indications that the tariff war will impact Luckin's plans to open stores in the US.
Anyway - their WeChat official account name was recently changed from "Luckin Coffee 瑞幸咖啡" to simply "瑞幸咖啡" - the motivation remains unclear, but it may reflect concerns about potential nationalist backlash.nv
Anker 🔋(main market in US)
Already increased prices across over 100 products on Amazon, and there is a possibility for further increases.
Greater Star 🔧(main market in US)
OEM: Maintaining prices but trying to redesign products to preserve profit margins. OBM: Directly increasing prices.
Temu 📦
Their accumulated cash reserves are now proving crucial—they're offering "100 billion RMB in subsidies" to help small and medium merchants reduce cost, navigate non-us market and build brand to maintain the profit.
TikTok 👔👛
The US e-commerce team has undergone layoffs, citing poor e-commerce performance in 2024. However, it cannot be ruled out that tariffs and uncertainty about TikTok's future in the US have catalyzed this strategic retreat in the US region.
Recently, many Chinese factory owners have flooded TikTok to expose the secrets of luxury goods supply chains - revealing that while brand markups are excessive, the actual production costs are very low - and are now directly selling their low-cost products to American consumers — Is this a TikTok-orchestrated campaign to support Chinese manufacturing?
Pinduoduo, Freshippo, JD, Yonghui and other domestic marketplaces 📦
Using their domestic sales channels and resources to help export factories pivot to sell their products across domestic markets (JD is offering 200 billion RMB in subsidies, while other platforms are creating expedited channels for exporters to list their products)
Apple 📱
iPhones were already losing ground in China, said Rest of World
Due to Apple's delay on adoption of AI features compared to Chinese brands' quick integration of AI capabilities, its appeal has diminished.
Rising nationalist sentiment and anti-Trump attitudes are encouraging Chinese consumers to choose domestic brands.
Apple lost its ground as China's leading smartphone seller last year to domestic competitors. In the world's largest smartphone market, Apple's annual shipments dropped 17% — marking its steepest yearly decline in China since 2016.
I've said this many times - I don't understand why many western media outlets are so obsessed with Apple's "China's #1" title, when in fact Apple hasn't been number one most of the time here - and Apple itself has never cared about it.
As I've mentioned before, while 17% seems like a big drop, their market share is still higher than before Huawei was sanctioned. Apple has always been a beneficiary. So, I really don't know what they mean by Apple is "losing ground in China" - it makes no sense to me.
As for the AI delay and US-China tensions, their impact is likely not as significant as many perceive - I don't really believe consumers would stop buying Apple products simply because of AI delays, but rather the collaboration with Baidu's AI might actually face boycotts as I mentioned in my previous posts, and I seldom encounter people boycotting American goods because of Trump, at least for now.
Instead, especially for the quarter that just ended (result will be disclosed on May 1st), I have seen many positive signals at the moment.
First, there are government subsidies which were introduced at the end of last year and continue to this day, in place.
(Notably — I see many analysts incorrectly claim that such subsidies only benefit low-end devices and don't affect Apple's high-end devices. In fact, high-end iPhones are also eligible for subsidies—they're just not available through JD's retail channel..)
Second, the March launch of new SE phones should drive sales, particularly since there were no phone device releases in the same period last year.
While it's uncertain whether these signals will translate into significant growth immediately, I just don't believe their performance will worsen.
Big picture — Apple's success in the Chinese market is strategically significant for both sides. Without Apple's presence and competitive pressure, would domestic phone makers have evolved as rapidly? Furthermore, as China opens its markets and expands domestic demand, if Apple were truly "losing ground," what message would that send to other foreign companies considering doing business here?
Think about it.