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Apple chief sings China’s praises with talk of ‘critical’ supply role
Apple chief Tim Cook has said that China is “critical” to its business in comments made during a visit to the country, where consumers are showing signs of souring on the company’s iPhones and US technology.
Amid rising geopolitical tensions, Cook has become a frequent visitor to China, a vital market and manufacturing base for Apple products.
His latest public relations offensive began in Shanghai with an interview in which he delivered effusive praise and a promise to invest more in the country.
The Global Times, known for bashing the US, reported the investment pledge and quoted Cook as saying: “There’s no supply chain in the world that’s more critical to us than China.”
Shanghai media noted that Cook praised the “high level of modernisation in Chinese factories, with very advanced manufacturing capabilities and welltrained workers”.
Cook told media that Apple would need the country’s help to make all its products carbon-neutral by 2030 and it was investing heavily in generative AI.
Cook’s visit comes amid tumbling sales in China, which contributed $21bn to Apple’s top line in the fourth quarter, or 17 per cent of sales. The figure represented a 13 per cent year-on-year decline, and research group Counterpoint said iPhone sales in the first six weeks of this year were down 24 per cent from a year earlier.
The company has been hit by a topdown campaign to cut iPhone usage among Chinese state employees and the return of Huawei, which last year overcame US sanctions to roll out a homegrown phone capable of near-5G speeds.
This month a dozen delegates to China’s top political gathering said they were using domestic brand phones, with several alleging that iPhones could spy on them.
Cook and Apple have been keen to turn around the narrative. The group announced last week that it was upgrading its Shanghai research centre and opening a lab in Shenzhen to work on research and testing for its iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro lines, while deepening co-operation with China suppliers.
Apple said the projects would build on the more than Rmb1bn ($140mn) it had invested in applied research labs in China. Local head Isabel Ge Mahe said the company was “proud to deepen our roots in China and expand our worldclass facilities here”.
On Wednesday, Cook met Apple’s China suppliers, including the head of carmaker BYD and executives from Lens Technology and Changying Precision Technology. He strolled in Shanghai’s waterfront, writing in a post on Weibo: “I’m always so happy to be back in this remarkable city.”
He was expected to open Apple’s eighth retail store in Shanghai yesterday and attend the China Development Forum, which starts over the weekend.
Zheng Wei, 61, was among the crowd and said he had bought his first Apple product a decade ago. “There haven’t been huge functionality advances over this past decade, but once you’re in this ecosystem, it’s hard to leave,” he said.
“Apple’s development prospects in China don’t look good. The economy is bad and they are often made out to be the enemy in the media.”
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