Tim Cook Praises Apple's 'Symbiotic Relationship' With China During Beijing Visit

Apple CEO Tim Cook has praised his company's "symbiotic relationship" with China during his first visit to the country in the last three years.

tim cook china 2023

Tim Cook shares a photo of his visit to Apple's Wangfujing store via Weibo

In his first visit since the pandemic began in 2020, the Apple chief gave a keynote speech over the weekend at the China Development Forum, where he said he "could not be more excited" to celebrate Apple's 30th anniversary in the country, where the company makes the vast majority of its iPhones.

"Apple and China . . . grew together and so this has been a symbiotic kind of relationship," said Cook, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Cook was among several U.S. tech company chiefs in Beijing, where the forum has been billed as an opening-up party after three years of lockdowns and restrictions as a result of President Xi Jinping's strict zero-Covid policy, which heavily impacted Apple's operations and led to a shortage of iPhone 14 models during the holiday period.

According to the FT report, Cook avoided mention of tensions between the U.S. and China during his keynote, which occurred during a session about technology and education, and instead talked up the millions of iOS developers in the country, as well as the success of its Apple stores in the region.

Bloomberg on Monday reported that Cook went on to meet China's minister of commerce Wang Wentao. "Both sides exchanged views about Apple's development in China and stabilizing the industry supply chain," according to a statement given to the outlet by Wang's ministry. Wang also reportedly told Cook that China will continue to open up and provide good services to foreign firms including Apple.

Apple last month released its financial results for the quarter ending in December, reporting a roughly 5% decline in revenue compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple cited a "challenging environment" that included iPhone supply issues due to COVID lockdowns in China, which hampered its ability to ship devices to customers.

China's smartphone market finished 2022 with an annual shipment of 287 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 14% and the first time since 2013 that the country's market shipment has fallen below 300 million units, according to a report by Canalys. Apple reached an all-time-high market share of 18% for the year, despite growth for the fourth quarter dropping by 24% due to supply issues, said the report.

Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chain outside of China to reduce its reliance on the country and mitigate the impact of geopolitical unrest, with Vietnam, and more recently India, emerging as important locations for supply chain expansion and investment.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
top stories 2025 04 19

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Pro Rumors, CarPlay Bug Fix, and More

Saturday April 19, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
This week saw rumor updates on the iPhone 17 Pro and next-generation Vision Pro, while a minor iOS 18.4.1 update delivered not just security fixes but also a fix for some CarPlay issues. We also looked ahead at what else is in Apple's pipeline for the rest of 2025 and even the 20th-anniversary iPhone coming in 2027, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more! iPhone 17 ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...

Top Rated Comments

MrTangent Avatar
27 months ago
Does he praise their treatment of the Uyghurs? How about Tibet?
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mectojic Avatar
27 months ago
He has to pander until Apple can get out of the country.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iamgalt Avatar
27 months ago

>"Apple and China . . . grew together and so this has been a symbiotic kind of relationship,"

If I was China, I would be extremely concerned. China views themselves as being independent from western companies. If Tim Cook believes that China needs Apple to survive, it almost seems like he's daring China to kick Apple out.

I hope that quote won't come back to bite Apple.
I kind of hope it does come back. Not because I want Apple to fail, but because I want Apple (and any other company) out of China as soon as possible.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sciomar Avatar
27 months ago
The one country we could do with a little less involvement with, at least until they learn how to treat their own citizens better.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PinkyMacGodess Avatar
27 months ago
Wow... So should we be concerned?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacWiz_007 Avatar
27 months ago
Tim Cook is one of the biggest hypocritical scum bags on this planet.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)