Welcome to the Tech Meme ride home for Thursday, January 3rd 2019. I'm Brian McCullough.

Today, yes, Apple lowers its guidance and the tech world freaks out.

We learn about the company you can outsource your censorship-friendly China content too.

There's a more durable e-scooter coming and what to expect from CES which is definitely also coming.

Here's what you missed today in the world of tech.

Well just as I hit publish on yesterday's episode, the news broke that Apple's shares were being halted, pending news, and I'm sure you've heard by now, the news was that Apple was revising its earnings guidance for fiscal

Q1 2019 downwards. This is the first time that Apple has had to revise its

earnings estimates since 2002.

Apple now expects $84 billion in revenue this quarter down from its estimated range of 89 to 93 billion. So that's pretty big news right there.

Full stop. Apple is usually super cautious about its guidance so that it can reliably over perform its own estimates, but then in the actual

statement about how it sees business going forward, Apple had to own up to the fact that it was straight up surprised,

itself by the weakness it was seeing.

Here to me is the key graph, quote,

while we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee

the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in greater China.

In fact, most of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and over 100% of our year

over year worldwide revenue decline occurred in greater China across iPhone, Mac, and iPad."

End quote. Okay, so let's start there. We have been talking

about the evolving trade war between the US and China and how it could have a significant

blowback for tech companies,

but the assumption all along was that this blowback for tech companies, but the assumption all along was that this blowback would be in the form of probably supply chain disruptions.

But Apple here is saying that it is seeing softness on the consumer side. To put it bluntly, Apple is having a hard

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