CHINA SLOWDOWN TO PUT SQUEEZE ON APPLE
China, which was an afterthought for Apple once-upon-a-time, has become the company’s second biggest market. In the second fiscal quarter, Apple generated $7.9 billion of revenues from China. This amount was more than three times the revenues a year earlier. As a reference, Apple’s total revenues were $39.2 billion. A large number of Apple bulls expect Apple sales in China to accelerate, but the data do not support such expectations. Applied Materials (AMAT), the big semiconductor equipment company, lowered its earnings estimates on Tuesday, citing a slowdown in China. Yesterday afternoon the whole stock market fell out of bed when Cummins (CMI), a truck engine