Tim Cook says Apple in China for long haul, touts job creation in new interview

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in General Discussion
Apple CEO Tim Cook took time out of his China tour this week to speak with a local news publication about the company's regional intentions, saying Apple is planting deep roots in the country, from job creation to economic and environmental investments.




In an interview with Caixin earlier this week, Cook sought to dispel sentiment that Apple's interest in China begins and ends with the country's massive economic potential.

With a booming middle class keen on owning the latest and greatest electronic devices, China has quickly become the world's largest smartphone market and thus an increasingly important factor to Apple's bottom line. While China is viewed as Apple's most important growth market, recent analysis shows sales of the company's flagship iPhone are under pressure from regional upstarts like Huawei and Xiaomi.

In a bid to more deeply entrench itself, and its culture of innovation, into the Chinese zeitgeist, Apple is spending big on a buildout of its retail presence. This is in addition to investments in research and development, manufacturing and environmental initiatives.

Last week, Apple announced plans to create two new R&D centers in Shanghai and Suzhou, facilities that will join similar outfits already under construction in Beijing and Shenzhen.

"We're not just someone who's here to access the market," Cook said. "We've created almost 5 million jobs in China. I'm not sure there are too many companies, domestic or foreign, who can say that. [...] There's deep roots here. I think very highly of the country and the people in it. We're here to stay."

Apple's investments are designed around the development of its various products. Cook told the publication that there are now 1.8 million developers in China crafting apps for iOS. As a global platform, Chinese developers have the opportunity to market their wares not only to locals, but to a worldwide audience.

Cook went on to offer color on comments about globalization made during a speech at the China Development Forum, a conference sponsored by China's central government.

"My view on globalization is that you can think of three groups of people," Cook said. "There's a group of people that globalization has helped tremendously. There's a group that globalization did not help. There's a group of people that globalization hurt. Globalization has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But I also recognize is that it did not help everyone."

He went on to say that socioeconomic inequities and other issues caused by globalization can be fixed, but it is up to lawmakers to first admit these problems exist.

Globalization is a contentious subject for companies like Apple, which are based in the U.S. but farm a bulk of manufacturing overseas. President Donald Trump recently called for Apple to produce iPhone and other products in American plants. While Apple's main manufacturing partner Foxconn is mulling a joint investment to build displays in the U.S., that effort pales in comparison to iPhone and iPad production operations in China.

While in China for the economic summit, Cook visited with local businesses tied to the iOS ecosystem including bike-sharing startup ofo and fitness app Keep. Ofo, which is in a fierce fight for investment capital, is backed by Didi, the ride-sharing service in which Apple invested $1 billion last year.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    Is it just me - or is Tim Cook looking old.  
  • Reply 2 of 17
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    Is it just me - or is Tim Cook looking old.  
    No, it's both of you. 

    But seriously - he is 57 and looks fine for his age, I think. 
    SoliStrangeDays
  • Reply 3 of 17
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    paxman said:
    Is it just me - or is Tim Cook looking old.  
    No, it's both of you. 

    But seriously - he is 57 and looks fine for his age, I think. 
    So does Angela Ahrendts and she's a couple months older than Tim. 

    Eddie Cue? Too much late night basketball:-)

  • Reply 4 of 17
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Mmmm

    Is anyone else seeing a blank grey line in their posts?
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 5 of 17
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Like an empty quote?

    There it is again!

  • Reply 6 of 17
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Ah! The like and informative counts have gone for a walk. 


    StrangeDays
  • Reply 7 of 17
    I salute Mr. Cook for his efforts in a difficult regulatory and political environment of China.
    But, even his best efforts and wholesome purpose as relates to China, is really no more than an act of faith in a country that is readily able and willing to pull the rug right out from under the best intentioned foreign or domestic player.
    And, a similar act of faith almost seems necessary in Apples home country, considering the sclerotic governing taking place. Who really understands our present Administrations true intentions regarding the tech establishment?
    edited March 2017 radarthekat
  • Reply 8 of 17
    Meanwhile....Microsoft just released a special govt. friendly version of windows 10 to assuage the Chinese govt. Qualcomm, IBM, Cisco have all had to make special "partnerships" in order to continue making money there. If I were Apple I'd be careful investing too much in China. Their leadership is just too mercurial to trust. 
  • Reply 9 of 17
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,562member
    securtis said:
    Meanwhile....Microsoft just released a special govt. friendly version of windows 10 to assuage the Chinese govt. Qualcomm, IBM, Cisco have all had to make special "partnerships" in order to continue making money there. If I were Apple I'd be careful investing too much in China. Their leadership is just too mercurial to trust. 
    One could say the same about the United States and Europe. No country has the rock solid stability that the US and Britain once had at their peaks. 
    tzm41
  • Reply 10 of 17
    blastdoor said:
    securtis said:
    Meanwhile....Microsoft just released a special govt. friendly version of windows 10 to assuage the Chinese govt. Qualcomm, IBM, Cisco have all had to make special "partnerships" in order to continue making money there. If I were Apple I'd be careful investing too much in China. Their leadership is just too mercurial to trust. 
    One could say the same about the United States and Europe. No country has the rock solid stability that the US and Britain once had at their peaks
    What do you mean by stability?
  • Reply 11 of 17
    tzm41tzm41 Posts: 95member
    securtis said:
    blastdoor said:
    securtis said:
    Meanwhile....Microsoft just released a special govt. friendly version of windows 10 to assuage the Chinese govt. Qualcomm, IBM, Cisco have all had to make special "partnerships" in order to continue making money there. If I were Apple I'd be careful investing too much in China. Their leadership is just too mercurial to trust. 
    One could say the same about the United States and Europe. No country has the rock solid stability that the US and Britain once had at their peaks
    What do you mean by stability?
    Being not capricious when they are making political decisions.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,562member
    tzm41 said:
    securtis said:
    blastdoor said:
    securtis said:
    Meanwhile....Microsoft just released a special govt. friendly version of windows 10 to assuage the Chinese govt. Qualcomm, IBM, Cisco have all had to make special "partnerships" in order to continue making money there. If I were Apple I'd be careful investing too much in China. Their leadership is just too mercurial to trust. 
    One could say the same about the United States and Europe. No country has the rock solid stability that the US and Britain once had at their peaks
    What do you mean by stability?
    Being not capricious when they are making political decisions.
    That's part of it.

    It's a little hard to define, but I would say that stability is present when there's a sizable and fairly consistent majority of both the elite and the broader population that shares the same values and goals for a country, and also agrees on the system for making decisions and resolving disputes. 

    Nobody is ever perfectly stable, but I don't think the US has that now to the extent that it's existed in the past. I can't think of any major country that is as stable as the US or UK once were. 


  • Reply 13 of 17
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,086member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Ah! The like and informative counts have gone for a walk. 
    Yep. I would think the mods would report this to the admin?
  • Reply 14 of 17
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Ah! The like and informative counts have gone for a walk. 
    Yep. I would think the mods would report this to the admin?
    Unless it's deliberate. 
  • Reply 15 of 17
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,001member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    Ah! The like and informative counts have gone for a walk. 
    Yep. I would think the mods would report this to the admin?
    Unless it's deliberate. 
    Could be. On my posts I only see 'quote'.

     'Like' and 'informative' vanished a few days ago. I see all three buttons on other people's posts, though.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,086member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    Ah! The like and informative counts have gone for a walk. 
    Yep. I would think the mods would report this to the admin?
    Unless it's deliberate. 
    It seems like a bug to me -- on mine the Quote button is terribly misaligned with its bounding gray box. I've reported other days-old bugs before and they weren't aware of it.
    edited March 2017
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