Apple Looking to Establish R&D Center in Beijing?

BrightWire reports on an article from Chinese web portal Tencent claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed during his visit to China last week the company's plans to establish a research and development center in Beijing. The report includes several other items of information pointing to Apple's continued efforts to strengthen its presence in the rapidly growing Chinese market.

- At a meeting with Beijing's acting mayor Wang Anshun on January 8, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company plans to set up an R&D center in Beijing, an unnamed insider source told Tencent Tech today.

- Cook also noted that Apple will move a certain amount of its servers for App Store and iTunes to China in order to improve the downloading speed for users in China.

The report also cites "IT insiders" claiming that Apple is likely to set up its Chinese data center in either Zhangjiakou to the northwest of Beijing or in Inner Mongolia.

beijingstore
Apple's Sanlitun retail store in Beijing

Tim Cook shared some of his thoughts on the Chinese market during his visit to the country, noting that Apple has plans to build more than 25 retail stores in the Greater China region and that it is working hard to speed up the regulatory approval process for its products so that they can launch closer to the first wave of debuts.

Apple has been looking to open research and development centers outside of the United States, seeking to draw upon international expertise for some of its technological advances. The company has already moved forward on a center in Israel, and there had previously been claims that Apple was exploring the possibility of a research center in Russia, although those talks do not appear to have yielded any commitments.

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...
amazon black friday

Amazon Kicks Off Black Friday Sale With Major Discounts on Apple Accessories, TVs, and More

Sunday November 23, 2025 7:12 am PST by
Black Friday deals have begun, and Amazon is one of the best places you can find steep discounts on numerous products this week. We've already collected all of the best Apple-related deals you'll find at Amazon (and other retailers) in our Apple Black Friday Deals post, so below you'll find other discounts on devices like Anker accessories, Beats headphones, video games, TVs, and more. Note:...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...

Top Rated Comments

Born Again Avatar
168 months ago
This must be Tim's plan to move more jobs to the USA
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Solomani Avatar
168 months ago
maybe innovation will start again :p

Innovation, maybe. Secrets? No.

The Chinese are not capable of keeping Apple secrets. :D
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oiuh151 Avatar
168 months ago
Apple should become a more American company, not a more Chinese one. :rolleyes:
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WardC Avatar
168 months ago
I miss the pride in owning a USA-built Apple Computer.

Apple built all their computers in Fremont, California for many years, and employed US workers. Now a Foxconn factory in a foreign land employs non-US workers who earn menial wages and work 17 hours a day sometimes to build hardware for a company that has turned into a money-focused and money-driven machine.

Just my take.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Asia8 Avatar
168 months ago
Apple headquarters may still be in America, but it's more an international company now. It's more about the money than any true corporate ideology.

Any actions of such a nature are simply to keep up customer loyalty and keep the illusion in Americans hearts that they're buying American products.

Unfortunately for America in recent years it's international reputation has been driven further and further into the dirt, while at the same time China has been improving at amazing speeds.

Maybe the Age of America is up, all great empires eventually crumble.

While life in America became more and more easy, the need for people to compete and fight for a better life slowly vanished as things became too easy. Once you stop improving, you just start slowly falling backwards.

China has a crazy population with killer competition, some of the types of things I've seen these students studying in Chinese universities I'd never even encountered in my western education. Whilst entrepreneurial ambitions may be lacking, never underestimate the knowledge and abilities of many of Chinese.

In recent years more International Chinese have been returning to China than ever before, first tier cities are becoming very impressive, while second and third tier cities are also showing rapid development.

There used to be great incentives for scientists and those of great ability to immigrate to America, but those days seem to be over. Possibly from too much external investment (war), and too little internal investment (education, development, and infrastructure).

There are many many reasons for Apple to work hard at penetrating into China and try to gain more product loyalty. There is a huge potential customer base, a great, skillful, knowledgeable and cheaper (easier to please) employee base and a very bright and brighter everyday future in China.

Also what a better place to learn about consumer needs in China, than in China? Google failed to understand Chinese culture and Chinese needs, and we all know how Google gave up in China, claiming their exit on "ethical reasons" while they had very little market penetration due to their inability to adapt to Chinese needs.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
conancn Avatar
168 months ago
Not related to the content, but the pic is def outdated.

now::D
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)