China

Apple is working to bring its AI features to China as early as May, with Alibaba and Baidu acting as local partners to help the company meet strict state regulations, according to a new Bloomberg report. Apple is said to have dedicated teams in both China and the US working to adapt its Apple Intelligence platform for the Chinese market, as it navigates the country's complex regulatory...

Apple will partner with Alibaba to offer AI features in China, the Chinese company's chairman said on Thursday, resolving months of speculation around Apple's strategy in the region. "They talked to a number of companies in China," said Joe Tsai at the World Government Summit in Dubai. "In the end they chose to do business with us. They want to use our AI to power their phones. We feel...

Apple could be facing a potential Chinese antitrust investigation into its App Store policies and developer fees, reports Bloomberg. China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) is said to have been critically examining Apple's practices and holding discussions with the company since last year, specifically about its 30% commission on in-app purchases and restrictions on...

OpenAI says it has uncovered evidence that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek used its proprietary models to train a competing open-source model, potentially violating the company's terms of service. The discovery centers around a technique called "distillation," where developers use outputs from larger AI models to train smaller ones. The practice is common in AI development, but OpenAI claims...

Apple has experienced a significant decline in iPhone sales in China, dropping from the leading position to third place in the country's smartphone market during the fourth quarter of 2024. According to a new report from Counterpoint Research, ‌iPhone‌ shipments in China fell by 18.2% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2024. This decline resulted in a 17.1% market share for the company,...

Apple has announced rare direct discounts on its flagship iPhone models and other products in China, signaling an effort to counter mounting competition and fluctuating consumer demand in one of its largest markets. Between January 4 and January 7, Apple will provide discounts of up to 500 yuan (approximately $68) on the iPhone 16 Pro and ‌iPhone 16 Pro‌ Max models through its website and...

Apple is reportedly negotiating with China's ByteDance and Tencent to bring their artificial intelligence models to iPhones sold in China, as the company adapts its AI strategy for the Chinese market. Apple began integrating OpenAI's ChatGPT into its devices globally earlier this month with the release of iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, but ChatGPT is not accessible in China...

Apple is struggling to work with Chinese tech company Baidu to bring Apple Intelligence to China next year, The Information reports. While it is now available in the United States and several other regions, ‌Apple Intelligence‌ is not available in China due to the country's restrictive security, privacy, and content obligations, which demands that any public AI technology obtains regulatory...

Apple is experiencing challenges as it attempts to launch Apple Intelligence in China, with regulators cautioning that foreign companies face a "difficult and long process" for approval unless they partner with local firms, according to a new Financial Times report. A senior official at the Cyberspace Administration of China told the FT that foreign device makers would find a "simple and...

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday made his third visit to China this year, ahead of a five-day supply chain conference with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other corporate leaders (via Bloomberg). The Apple chief joined more than 20 global business leaders in meetings with Premier Li Qiang, including executives from Rio Tinto, Corning, and Charoen Pokphand Group. Chinese corporate leaders from...

A Chinese court has agreed to hear a lawsuit against Apple from Beijing Bodyreader, a developer seeking around $420,000 in damages after their children's posture correction app was removed from the App Store in 2020. Bloomberg reports that the case – the first of its kind to be heard in Beijing's intellectual property court – bears similarities to Epic Games' 2021 lawsuit against Apple....

Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams are in China this week to promote Apple's products and initiatives in the region. Throughout their trip, Cook has been active on Weibo. Cook and Williams met students from China Agricultural University and Zhejiang University, exploring how they use iPhones and iPads to improve sustainable agricultural practices. Cook thanked the China Rural...

The seventh-generation iPad mini's charging speed is capped at 20W, according to a Chinese regulatory filing. The new ‌iPad mini‌'s charging speed has seemingly been confirmed through a China Compulsory Certificate (3C) certification report (spotted by 91Mobiles), revealing that the new model has the same charging specification as its immediate predecessor. According to the 3C certification, ...

Apple has opened a new applied research laboratory in Shenzhen, China, marking a significant expansion of its research and development capabilities in the world's largest smartphone market. The facility, which began operations on Thursday, is located in the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong tech cooperation zone. Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Tech Cooperation Zone, China (Photo: Xinhua) Apple...

Apple has approved an update to WeChat for the upcoming iPhone 16, signaling a potential thaw in relations between the tech giant and Tencent, the Chinese company behind the massively popular messaging app. The development, reported by Bloomberg, comes as Tencent and Apple continue negotiations over revenue-sharing agreements for WeChat's mini-games ecosystem. The approval of the WeChat...

Apple is putting pressure on Tencent and ByteDance to make significant changes to two of China's most popular apps in order to remove loopholes that circumvent Apple's typical 30% commission, Bloomberg reports. The loopholes are linked to mini-apps that allow users of Tencent's social-messaging app WeChat and ByteDance's short-video app Douyin to play games, hail taxis, and make online...

For the first time in years, Apple has fallen out of the top five smartphone vendors in China, ranking sixth in the second quarter of 2024. Data from Canalys, a market research firm, shows that Apple's iPhone shipments in China declined by 6.7% year-on-year. This drop has been attributed to fierce competition from domestic brands such as Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, Honor, and Xiaomi. Huawei, in...

Apple is set to open a new applied research lab in Shenzhen, China, focusing on enhancing the quality and reliability of its flagship products (via Shenzhen Daily). The new lab in Shenzhen is expected to boost Apple's research capabilities, focusing on reliability and quality testing for key products. The new facility will focus on testing new materials and production techniques, ensuring...

With iOS 18, Apple is working with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone, where ChatGPT will work alongside Siri to handle requests for AI-generated content. ChatGPT and other similar AI services are not available in China, so Apple needs to find an alternative. Apple is actively looking for a Chinese company to partner with for its AI features in China, reports The Wall Street Journal....

Apple's iPhone sales in China surged by 52% in April, reflecting a significant rebound driven by aggressive price cuts and renewed consumer demand, Bloomberg reports. The surge in shipments from 2.3 million units in April 2023 to 3.5 million units in April 2024, revealed in data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), follows a series of strategic price...