APPLE Inc. found itself on the receiving end of a small, short-lived anti-U.S. protest last week in China, the tech firm’s biggest overseas market.

    A handful of unofficial Apple stores were picketed and social media users encouraged each other to destroy their Apple goods, in a rare instance of the tech firm being targeted as a symbol of perceived injustice following an international ruling against Chinese territorial claims.

    Though the protest was small, observers have expressed concern about the impact on Apple in the long term, citing the roughly year-long slump in sales of Japanese cars after a diplomatic dispute that prompted large protests and boycotts.

    China is the world’s biggest smartphone market and Apple is increasingly reliant on its growing middle class as it competes with domestic makers of cheaper phones such as Xiaomi Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., in a climate of weakening consumer spending and slowing economic growth.

    Apple’s sales in China fell around 25 percent in January-March from the same period a year prior. It is scheduled tomorrow to announce April-June earnings that are widely expected to be lackluster due to a dearth of product launches.

    (SD-Agencies)