Apple, not China, is Taiwan’s biggest risk

For investors in Taiwan’s $841bn (€745.5bn) stock market, Tim Cook matters more than president Tsai Ing-wen.

While the ascension of independence-leaning Ms Tsai to the presidency today has sparked concern relations with China will deteriorate, JP Morgan Asset Management and BlackRock say the bigger risk is the slowdown in the global smartphone business.

Apple reported its first quarterly sales decline in 13 years, with chief executive officer Mr Cook acknowledging on April 26 that - nine years after the iPhone’s game-changing debut -- the market had “stopped growing.”