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Green Bay Packers General Manager Claims Team Is ‘Committed’ To Aaron Rodgers 

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The Green Bay Packers have no plans to trade Aaron Rodgers, and believe the star player will be playing for the team for 2021 and beyond. General Manager Brian Gutekunst spoke about Rodgers after ESPN reported that Rodgers was disgruntled with his team and apparently told some members of the organization that he doesn’t want to return to the Packers. 

“We’ve been working through this for a little while now, and I just think it may take some time. But he’s a guy that kind of makes this thing go. He gives us the best chance to win, and we’re going to work towards that end.”

Rodgers is under contract until 2023, however, he doesn’t have guaranteed money left on his deal. Gutekunst said the lines of communication between Rodgers and the Packers has been open throughout the offseason, and claimed that the Packers never told Rodgers they would trade him, and emphasized the opposite. 

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“We’re not going to trade Aaron Rodgers.” 

Part of Rodgers’ unhappiness reportedly stems from last year’s draft when the Packers didn’t inform him of their decision to trade up and draft his potential replacement, Jordan Love. 

“I certainly look back to last year’s draft and just kind of maybe some of the communication issues we could have done better. There’s no doubt about it. The draft’s an interesting thing. It can kind of unfold differently than you think it’s going to unfold, and it happens pretty fast. But certainly, I think, looking back on it sitting where we sit today there could have been some communication things we did better,” Gutekunst said. 

“I’m not going to speak for Aaron, but I think obviously we have a really good team and I do think he’ll play for us again.”

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“Like I said, we’re going to work towards that and we’ve been working towards that on a number of different fronts. The value that he adds to our football is really immeasurable, you know what I mean? He brings so much to the table not only as a player but as a leader. He’s so important to his teammates, to his coaches, so yeah, that’s the goal,” Gutekunst explained. 

“I think we obviously have a very good football team here, we have a great organization, we’re very committed to him and I think as the lines of communication have been open, I’m just optimistic that that’s what’s best for the Green Bay Packers and I truly believe that’s what’s best for Aaron Rodgers, as well.”

Former Packers coach and current Cowboys coach, Mike McCarthy, spoke to the press this week about Rodgers and the draft in general: “I think it’s like everything in this business. Look, I don’t think anything ever surprises you, and things like that go on. Conversations, I think, are always going on when it comes to player acquisition. Obviously no one knows the impact that Aaron Rodgers has made on the Green Bay Packers but, yeah, I haven’t given it much thought. Obviously I didn’t see anything happen today, so … good news story.”

“It’s kind of a hypothetical and it’s kind of, like I said, our desire is to have Aaron as our quarterback leading this team and competing for championships. So, it’s a little bit hypothetical, so we’ll get to that. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Gutekunst concluded.

The White House

President Biden Orders Pandemic Supply Chain Review For 4 Key Industries

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Joe Biden will sign an executive order this week that will call for the review of global supply chains responsible for providing pandemic gear to the nation.

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China’s Economy Shows Steady Recovery As Pandemic Is Brought Under Control

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China reported a 4.9% economic growth in its third quarter, making it the only major global economy in the world to show an economic increase during a worldwide pandemic.

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iPhone SE

Apple Releases ‘Low-Price’ iPhone SE To Combat Coronavirus Demands

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In China, Apple recently announced that they would be discounting pricing on all iPhone 11 models, and now with the release of their new low-price iPhone SE models as well, Apple is hoping they’re putting themselves in a better business position to recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic. 

China accounts for about 15% of Apple’s annual revenue, it’s also where a majority of their manufacturing takes place. Apple is waiting to see how their second-quarter reports look before implementing these discounts, especially considering the United States and Europe have closed down all retail business locations in general amid Covid-19 concerns. China will be the only country that will be able to reopen parts of their market to sell these products, as they’ve begun easing out of their lockdown policies.

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“Apple is better positioned than most to experience a rapid recovery in a post COVID world. We see demand as pushed out, not canceled,” analyst Amit Daryanani said.

As Daryanani stated, while consumer spending in general has slowed down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Apple is relatively prepared and equipped to recover. As the second-most valuable tech company in the world, experts from Apple aren’t necessarily worried, but by launching the $400 iPhone SE model, they’re definitely taking some precautionary measures. 

Apple analysts predict that they’ll see a 6% decrease in revenue from this past quarter, and an 11% decrease in general net income. To prepare for this decrease, several online Chinese retailers have discounted their iPhone 11 pricing as much as 18% off of the original price. 

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This isn’t the first time Apple has offered random and obscure online sales for their products as a means of increasing demand in times of economic distress. During the 2008 recession, Apple discounted their Macbook pricing as a means of increasing demand, which ended up increasing Apple’s revenue for that year exponentially.  

As previously mentioned, Apple announced the low-priced iPhone SE model this week, and social media has remained relatively quiet about it. The company, however, is hopeful that momentum will begin to pick up in the coming weeks, as individuals looking to purchase a new iPhone will likely want the cheapest and easiest option for acquiring it during a pandemic. 

“The cheaper iPhone SE could tempt iPhone owners to opt for a newer device, something they might have otherwise delayed in a weak economy. People want to avoid uncertainty in a downturn. Having a brand like Apple that can showcase quality and make people less worried about breakdowns or after-sales service can bring in buyers,”  said Nicole Peng, who tracks the smartphone sector at research firm Canalys.

Initial data has already proved that China’s smartphone market is recovering when compared to what it looked like when this pandemic began. Reports showed that iPhone sales in China increased by 21% last month when compared to sales from this time last year. While experts are still predicting a decrease in net income, this immediate increase in smartphone sales before the pandemic is even over is a good sign for the world’s many businesses/companies, and their economic futures after this quarantine is over.

Huawei Smartphone

Huawei Hits Back At Trump Administration After Still Being Blacklisted As Part of America/China Trade War

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Huawei’s Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy has hit back at claims Chinese companies pose a security threat, made recently by US Attorney General William Barr who stated they ‘cannot be trusted’.

Barr has backed a proposal which would see rural wireless carriers prevented from utilizing an $8.5 billion government fund which would enable them to purchase services or equipment from Chinese firms.By blacklisting Chinese companies, including Huawei and other technology companies such as ZTE Corp, American jobs are being damaged, causing stress and worry to homes across the country.

The former Homeland Security official spoke with “Squawk Box” and said, “If we hurt Americans to hurt China, we haven’t improved our position. Two hundred American companies are waiting to sell nonstrategic parts to Huawei. Forty thousand American jobs are at risk, and if we have to, we will go overseas and buy them.” However Mr Barr has stated that “we should not signal that Huawei and ZTE are anything other than a threat to our collective security, for that is exactly what they, through their actions, have shown themselves to be.”

Yet Huawei has confirmed “in 30 years of business, Huawei has never had a major security related incident in the 170 countries where we operate.”

Some of the accusations seem to have come from the fact Huawei were charged by federal prosecutors for violations of the U.S. embargo on Iran, obstruction of justice, bank fraud and trade secret theft. In 2017 ZTE pleaded guilty to illegally sending around $32 million in U.S. goods to Iran. This has resulted in the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announcing the commission, “cannot ignore the risk that the Chinese government will seek to exploit network vulnerabilities in order to engage in espionage, insert malware and viruses, and otherwise compromise our critical communications networks.”

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With America locked in an 18 month trade war with China, both countries are aiming to finalize a ‘phase one’ agreement allowing China to not only address intellectual property protections but to also purchase U.S. farm goods.

But the Trump administration’s concerns regarding the communist Chinese government’s association to industry and its habit of subsidizing different sectors – including technology – will be discussed at a later date.

Huawei have been at the forefront of President Trump’s worries and the powers that be in Congress have concerns that the technology giant is establishing itself in America unfairly, with the U.S. market gaining smartphones as well as next-generation 5G wireless networks thanks to help from the Chinese government. It is these very practices that has led the way to accusations about the prospect of the equipment being used for spying purposes in the future, hence the ‘security threat’ claim.

However Purdy has confirmed that Huawei would be able to put procedures in place to ensure national security and has insisted they would never assist the Chinese government in such covert ways: “We’re happy to talk to the government about effective measures that can be implemented.”

It was a surprise to many around the world that the U.S. government added Huawei – as well as several other Chinese companies – onto the Commerce Department’s ‘entity list’ with ‘national security’ listed as the reasons.

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This meant that Huawei were unable to purchase any American software unless they had a U.S. Government license, meaning deals could not be made with companies including Micron or Alphabet’s Google.

Some companies have since been removed from the list however the licenses for U.S. companies to sell components to Huawei are still being looked into, with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirming the licenses would be coming ‘very shortly’.

A proposal regarding carriers to remove and replace equipment from Huawei, as well as ZTE Corp and other Chinese companies deemed a security threat, will be discussed on November 22nd with a vote taking place the same day.

Many have wondered if Huawei would be big enough to survive such measures. After they were placed on the ‘entity list’ American corporations including Google stopped working with them bringing predictions that they would soon cease to trade. However Huawei has far exceed not only the world’s expectations but their own too.

When the trade ban was put in place, Huawei Chief Executive Office Ren Zhengfei predicted their revenue would drop by about ‘$30 million compared to forecasts’ with $100 billion being the target for the year. Yet this does not seem to be the case with a 24.4 per cent increase in generated revenue indicating the technology giants should comfortably clear the $100 billion mark.

This is due in part to Huawei earning around 50 per cent of its revenue from their consumer division – smartphones in particular, with 185 million units shipped this year. And thanks to its year-on-year growth not only have Huawei’s fortunes not dipped, they have actually gained traction against Samsung, meaning if they had not been ‘blacklisted’ they could easily have become the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer.