Dark clouds gather as tech stockpiles hit pre-crisis levels

This comes amid a possible US-China trade war, likely monetary tightening by the Fed, more expensive growth in China's consumer economy

Storm clouds are brewing over the global technology industry. A host of hardware companies, including Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co, Foxconn Technology Group and Intel Corp are sitting on inventory stockpiles not seen since the financial crisis a decade ago.

And it comes amid a possible US-China trade war; likely monetary tightening by the Fed; more expensive growth in China’s consumer economy; and a long-standing sense that we’re in a tech bubble.

I selected nine companies — a mix of branded-electronics names, product assemblers and the world’s biggest chipmakers — to paint a picture of the inventory levels we’re  seeing right now.

It’s