Wall Road’s greatest tech bull warns of $3,500 iPhones as ‘financial Armageddon’ looms from Trump tariffs

Through the AI growth, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has change into Wall Road’s most outstanding tech evangelist, providing an unrelentingly bullish view on how this new know-how will usher in a Fourth Industrial Revolution.

However as instances change, individuals do, too.

And in a be aware to purchasers on Friday, Ives sounded the alarm on the state of the tech commerce as the truth of Trump’s shock tariff announcement on Wednesday continues to sink in throughout the funding world.

“The idea of taking the US again to the 1980’s ‘manufacturing days’ with these tariffs is a nasty science experiment that within the course of will trigger an financial Armageddon in our view and crush the tech commerce, AI Revolution theme, and general business within the course of,” Ives wrote.

How Trump and his staff will pull off revitalizing US manufacturing is a debate that may dominate financial coverage circles for years to return.

As that years-long course of performs out, nonetheless, US shoppers look set to face swift and dramatic adjustments in the price of some items. Eggs have performed a serious function within the current inflation discourse, and Wall Road economists on Thursday started floating the concept that the speed of inflation may double this 12 months on account of Trump’s actions.

However Ives has a less complicated, and, maybe, much more tangible warning for the way these tariffs will weigh on shoppers: The price of an iPhone may triple.

“The financial ache that might be introduced by these tariffs are onerous to explain and may primarily take the US tech business again a decade within the course of whereas China steamrolls forward,” Ives wrote.

“50% China tariffs, 32% Taiwan tariffs would primarily trigger a shut-off valve from the US tech panorama and within the course of trigger each digital to go up 40%-50% for shoppers, iPhones made within the US would price $3,500 (vs. $1,000), and the AI Revolution commerce could be considerably slowed down by these head scratching tariffs that NEED to be negotiated to real looking ranges.” (Emphasis added.)

Ives additionally flagged a problem Nick Colas at DataTrek highlighted in a Friday morning be aware, too: There is a length mismatch between US politics and Trump’s manufacturing ambitions.

“It should take a few years for corporations to shift manufacturing right here, however Individuals go to the polls each two years for Congress and 4 years for the presidency,” Colas wrote.

“Ought to newly introduced commerce coverage trigger a recession and incremental inflation, the lingering results of each might be on voters’ minds, particularly in 2028,” he added.