ALBAWABA – Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook is in China for a highly publicized trip at the same time as Apple opens its largest store in China, second only the world’s biggest Apple store in New York’s Fifth Avenue, located in Shanghai. In an extension of the tech giant’s efforts to mitigate a slump in iPhone sales in its most significant overseas market.
As noted by Hasan Chowdhury of Business Insider, Cook has been demonstrating his dedication to China by making a display of his presence in one of the company's biggest markets, which saw a 24 percent drop in iPhone sales in the year’s opening six weeks, in an attempt to network with Beijing’s political figures and decision makers.
Chinese consumer testing iphone in Apple store in downtown Chengdu during Chinese New Yea - Feb. 2, 2019 (Shutterstock)
"Nonghao Shanghai!" Which translates to "hello" in Shanghainese language, Apple’s CEO Cook said on Weibo last Wednesday, adding that returning to this “amazing city” always makes him so happy, marking his third visit to the country in a year’s period, as reported by CNN, in hops to highlight’s the importance of the Chinese market for Apple.
Despite Apple seizing the lead in China's smartphone market for the very first time in 2023 with an all-time high 17.3 percent market share, according to IDC Research, another insight released earlier this month by Counterpoint Research reports that iPhone sales in the nation fell 24 percent year over year in the initial half of 2024. It further noted that during this period, Apple's market share fell behind its rivals Vivo, Huawei, and Honor, with competitor Huawei's sales increasing by 64 percent.
Cook reportedly visited representatives from Lens Technology at the company's Shanghai location, along with Wang Chuanfu, founder and president of Apple supplier BYD Electronics, as China Daily said, adding that the CEO stated in an interview that “there's no supply chain in the world that's more critical to us than China.”
