ATLANTA — Cell phones and technology will become more expensive with the tariffs on China, however, app developers and creators will also see an indirect impact.
Jamal Williams created The ADD app and said he’s bracing for the trickle-down effect from the impact of tariffs.
His app “services all customers looking for deals, discounts, and promotions from their favorite brands.”
ADD is free for users. Businesses pay $20 to advertise. He said even though it’s affordable, if prices rise, it could be a cost that businesses eliminate.
He said the current economy is also creating a catch-22 with his business model.
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“That will cause a lot of customers to come to my app in order to find more deals for those brands, but when it comes to the technology and advancement and how we update our app, we would need the most current phones,” Williams said.
Emory professor Rajiv Garg told Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers those will be the indirect cost of tariffs for app developers and creators.
“If they’re not upgrading phones because the phones are expensive, or they’re upgrading but saving on the subscription costs or other payments of the app, then essentially the revenue of the developers is going down,” Garg said.
Garg said he predicts technology prices to increase by 15%.
As for Williams, he’s making sure his business will survive.
“Building up our websites, so regardless of the IOS website, or new phones, they’ll be able to get the same experience,” Williams said.
Williams said The ADD app will be expanding to Android in the next month, and he’s hoping that will help with revenue as well.
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