On Saturday Patently Apple posted a report titled "At the Moment, the Executive Order Banning TikTok and WeChat in the U.S. App Store shouldn't be an issue for Apple." In our report we noted that "the matter could get a little complicated for Apple if the ban extends to their App Store in China. Though that hasn't been clarified yet by the executive order as we know it today. Until this point is clarified, playing the "What if" game is futile, even though there are reports like this one out today from the Verge playing up the fear factor. Their report states that "If Apple can’t offer WeChat on the iPhone due to Trump’s ban, then its Chinese business will almost certainly evaporate overnight."

A key point to the announcement of the TikTok ban that President Trump signed last week is that after 45 days, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross "shall identify the transactions" that will be subjected to the prohibition.

With that said, news sites that are generally anti-Trump are determined to play up the fear factor that the order could ban Apple from making TikTok available on the App Store. Being so close to the U.S. election, playing tough with China is one thing;  extending the order beyond the U.S. boarder into China would be counterproductive.

While the Reuters report today acknowledges that all, including the media, is in the dark on how this will all play out after the 45 day period referred to last week, they still decided to push the negative narrative.

It would be wise for all to simply wait for the actual news to arrive instead of playing "What if" politics. At present, Wall Street isn't listening to the noise in the media with Apple's stock is at a new high gaining + $4 in premarket activity.

In other news on this topic, regulators in South Korea are "monitoring" the latest moves by India, Japan and the United States against TikTok before possibly instituting a similar ban on the app stating data and privacy concerns.

Senior industry officials contacted by The Korea Times, Sunday, said while "nothing definitive" had been decided it was possible the government would take action against the app which has raised security concerns. TikTok was the country's most downloaded Android video-sharing application ahead of YouTube, Instagram and Facebook as of July this year.

"The country's top telecom regulator is closely monitoring the latest updates and other relevant developments on TikTok primarily from data and privacy concerns. A possible ban of TikTok is likely but only after further evidence justifying the app operator's direct involvement in seriously abusing data and the privacy of its Korean users. We are keeping an eye on TikTok," an official directly involved with the matter said.