Apple CEO Tim Cook goes on a charm offensive in China amid weak iPhone sales in the world’s largest smartphone market
Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Wednesday met Chinese video game developers, a filmmaker and the billionaire founder of BYD in Shanghai, ahead of the company’s new store opening in the city, as the US tech giant goes on a charm offensive amid weak iPhone sales in the world’s largest smartphone market.
This marks the latest visit to mainland China by Cook, who is expected to take part in the state-organised China Development Forum in Beijing over the weekend.
Cook met developers from Papergames, the studio behind the Nikki and Love series of romance games, and welcomed the Shanghai-based outfit’s plan to bring their popular titles to the Mac and new Vision Pro headset, according to the Apple chief’s post on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo on the same day.
Separately, Cook had a meeting with Wang Chuanfu, the founder, chairman and chief executive of the world’s largest electric vehicle maker BYD, at the Apple office in Shanghai, according to a report by China Daily.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook, far left, meets with the creators of the Nikki and Love series at Shanghai-based video gaming studio Papergames. Photo: Weibo
In a photo opportunity at The Bund, Cook early on Wednesday took a walk along Shanghai’s famous waterfront area with Chinese actor Zheng Kai, who managed to take selfies with the US executive.
On the same day, Cook also visited the studio of director Mo Lyu who uses various Apple products to develop, create storyboards, shoot and edit her short films, according to another Weibo post by the company’s chief executive.
Cook also arranged to check products from Apple suppliers such as Lens Technology and Shenzhen Everwin Precision Technology during the Shanghai leg of his latest trip to China.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook spent Wednesday morning walking along Shanghai’s famous waterfront area, The Bund, with Chinese actor Zheng Kai. Photo: Weibo
He was also expected to lead the opening of a new Apple Store in Shanghai’s Jing’an district, the centre of China’s financial hub, on Thursday.
The packed itinerary of Cook reflects his continued optimism about Apple’s long-term prospects in the world’s second-largest economy, despite increased competition from Huawei Technologies and other major domestic handset vendors in the nation’s vast smartphone market.
Cupertino, California-based Apple announced last week plans to expand its research centre in Shanghai to support all of its product lines and the opening of a new lab in southern tech hub Shenzhen later this year.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Wednesday also stopped by the Shanghai studio of film director Mo Lyu, third from left. Photo: Weibo
Apple’s Greater China region – covering the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau – is the firm’s third-largest geographic market behind the Americas and Europe, based on its December quarter results.
“There’s no supply chain in the world that’s more critical to us than China,” Cook said in an interview with China Daily on Wednesday.
Cook added that Apple has been expanding its supply chain in China and increasing investment over the past 30 years.
Apple to expand applied research operations in Shanghai and Shenzhen
The pressure for Apple, however, has ratcheted up in China, as its iPhone sales on the mainland fell 24 per cent year on year over the first six weeks of 2024, according to a report by Counterpoint Research. Total mainland smartphone sales declined by 7 per cent owing in the same period because of increased competition and muted consumer spending.
The company “faced stiff competition at the high end [of the market] from a resurgent Huawei, while getting squeezed in the middle on aggressive pricing by the likes of Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi”, the Counterpoint report said.
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