Apple CEO Tim Cook Visits China Amid Reports of Lower iPhone 15 Sales

Apple CEO Tim Cook has made a surprise visit to China amid reports that iPhone 15 sales are down in the country compared to last year's iPhone 14 models (via Bloomberg).

Tim Cook iPhone 15 launch
Cook visited an Apple's Taikoo Li store in Chengdu to watch a local gaming tournament for the major Tencent game "Honor of Kings" and talk to shoppers and staff. Cook later posted about the event on Weibo with a short video, saying that "the energy tonight was off the charts!" Cook then visited a Yucheng elementary school to see how students use the iPad to support local culture.

The appearance comes just a day after two Counterpoint Research studies claimed that ‌iPhone 15‌ sales are down 4.5% versus last year's ‌iPhone 14‌ lineup in China, causing Apple's share price to fall. As a result, Cook's visit is being widely associated with concern about ‌iPhone 15‌ sales in China across various mainstream media outlets.

Cook's posts on Weibo during the trip have also aroused a usual amount of ire. For example, Cook shared a photo of Chengdu at night shot on an ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro Max. The post was then "flooded with complaints" about the ostensibly poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro.

Related Roundup: iPhone 15
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...

Top Rated Comments

StuBeck Avatar
17 months ago
I'm missing the connection between a trip and sales going down. Is it assumed that his "celebrity" will help increase sales? Surely market research could be done by locals better than the CEO coming into a small part of the country too.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
17 months ago

Cook's posts on Weibo during the trip have also aroused a usual amount of ire. For example, Cook shared a photo of Chengdu at night shot on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. The post was then "flooded with complaints" about the poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro.
LOL, color me shocked! I bet Pooh Bear couldn't issue that order fast enough.

The Huawei's could have a camera that is 10 times better than any other, I still wouldn't buy it.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neuropsychguy Avatar
17 months ago
"The post was then 'flooded with complaints' about the poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro."

Have to love those state-sponsored bot accounts and/or nationalists who don't like "Western" companies and/or people/bots who don't like Apple. It's like the commenters who come to MR to complain about how terrible Apple products are because apparently there’s nothing better to do.

This isn’t to say the Mate 60 Pro has a worse camera (it’s supposed to be quite good), but people complaining that the 15 Pro Max has a terrible camera are not doing so from an objective perspective. This means they are likely falling into one of the groups I mentioned.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac_The_Ripper Avatar
17 months ago
Tim Cook wants to save the planet and have peace on earth...in other news, Tim Cook visits China (the pillar of environmentalism and human rights) where he sold his soul to the highest bidder.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomtad Avatar
17 months ago
Reality is this is only going to continue as the Chinese phone makers continue to improve.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3530025 Avatar
17 months ago

"The post was then 'flooded with complaints' about the poor quality of the image and unfavorable comparisons to pictures from Chinese devices like Huawei's recently Mate 60 Pro."

Have to love those state-sponsored bot accounts.
Yep, because no phone can take better pictures than iPhone...

Wait what? Huawei P60 Pro is actually above iPhone 15 Pro Max https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/ - shocker
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)