Apple CEO Tim Cook recently expressed his concern regarding the crisis in Ukraine, and has tweeted support for their teams located in the embattled country.
Cook took to Twitter to air his thoughts, alongside a promise to support local humanitarian efforts in Ukraine in the midst of the military conflict:
I am deeply concerned with the situation in Ukraine. We’re doing all we can for our teams there and will be supporting local humanitarian efforts. I am thinking of the people who are right now in harm’s way and joining all those calling for peace.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 25, 2022
This is despite Apple not even actually having retail locations in the country, as stated by Apple Insider. However, the Cupertino giant does work with authorized resellers to release their products there. Furthermore, there is actually an Apple office in Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv, which was opened last year.
The office was officially registered within the country, which meant that the Big Tech giant potentially avoided a 20% value-added tax being imposed by the Ukrainian government on non-local tech companies, as reported by the Kyiv Post dated June 30th, 2021. Among these companies include Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix.
The Apple CEO is perhaps the first Big Tech head to comment on the Ukraine-Russia crisis, with many of his tech mogul colleagues noticeably being quiet-perhaps mainly due to how their massive net worths have been indirectly affected by the conflict.
Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, for instance, has had his net worth slashed by $13.3 billion due to stocks tanking worldwide in the wake of the crisis, reports Yahoo. This caused the multi-billionaire his place in the ultra-exclusive $200 billion net worth club.
For now, the Ukraine-Russia crisis seems to be in full swing, with multiple reports of armed encounters between the two countries' forces happening close to the Ukrainian border. Many other countries have called for an end to the conflict, pleading for peace and a swift end to the fighting.
How Has The Ukraine Crisis Affected Apple And Other Big Tech Companies?
Simply put, not in a good way.
Apple is among several tech institutions who have been feeling the economic brunt of the Ukraine-Russia crisis, with the entire tech sector "briefly falling" into bear-market territory, according to Barron's. One can't really blame this on Russia's military activities, however, since tech stocks have been reportedly on the decline.
As for other companies who aren't necessarily as big as Apple, however, the problem remains the same. For instance, the Ukrainian tech sector has been bracing itself for the inevitable evacuation they'll have to do as the fighting ramps up.
In a report by TechCrunch, a director at a major tech company based in Ukraine has confirmed that they're "in the process" of figuring out how to evacuate all of its staff from the country. Another company, Readdle (known for making productivity tools), is deep in the implementation of their business continuation protocols.
For now, the all-encompassing effects of the Ukraine-Russia crisis on the global tech industry can't be observed in full as it is still quite early. There's a lot more that could happen within the next few weeks.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
