Tim Cook, who is in China this week to discuss Apple’s new environmental initiatives, spoke to Chinese media regarding his plans to further expand Apple services in the country. Speaking to news outlet Xinhua, Cook discussed a variety of topics, including his hope to launch Apple Pay in China and get a smartphone in the hand of every resident.
Regarding Apple Pay, Cook reiterated comments he has made in the past. The executive remarked that Apple “very much wants to get Apple Pay in China.” Previously, Apple has said to have been in negotiations with popular Chinese retailer Alibaba regarding a potential partnership. Cook has met with Alibaba executives in the past regarding the partnership, but nothing has been officially announced. “I’m very bullish on Apple Pay in China,” Cook said today.
Tim Cook also talked about the recent news of Apple passing Xiaomi in the China smartphone market. Cook remarked that it is “great news” to see Apple gaining traction in China and overtaking Xiaomi. During Apple’s Q2 earnings call, Cook announced that Apple sold more iPhones in China during the quarter than it did in the United States. “I think China is a market where everyone will own a smart phone,” Cook remarked today. An IDC report from this morning, however, claimed that the Chinese smartphone market is approaching its saturation point, but Cook does not seem worried.
While discussing Apple’s new environmental initiatives in China, Cook bragged that, “this area is one where we can make a significant contribution.” The Apple executive went on to reiterate that Apple’s main goal is produce its products in the cleanest and most environmentally conscious way, while not advocating.
“The environmental issue is very important in China. We don’t advocate, that is not our responsibility. By the same token, we focus on the manufacturing of the product, not just the final assembling, but all the way back to the raw materials. That’s the only way Apple can make an enormous impact on the environment.”
Apple’s focus on China has been apparent over the recent months with the company aiming to open more than forty retail stores in the country by mid-2016.
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If launching Apple Pay in the UK is causing so many problems, I hate to think how long it would take to launch in China!
I guess less time, Cook is probably willing to flex a little more for a market that isn’t already so Apple-established.
They need to work harder in China, because the time to establish a larger brand loyalty is NOW, now when more and more people in China are entering the target demographic.
That growth of target audience isn’t as high in the UK as it is in China, so if they want loyalty over the long run, they need to work now, not later.
Whatever is “lost” in UK they can fix “anytime”, of course I’m massively exaggerating, but only to make it a bit clearer.
It’s not much different in the other markets like Germany, where I am.
I wish they would care a bit more about this market.
Can’t count the features that I have seen presented on stage at WWDC for example and that took forever to launch here, if they ever did. (*cough* iTunes Radio *cough*)
Truth be told, with many features I wasn’t ever really aware that they eventually were available here for weeks or months, because it took so long that they simply disappeared on my radar and at some point you stop looking for them.
USA is a full-steam market, China is not full-steam, but they care a lot atm because they have to saturate the market as good as possible as early as possible. All other markets are low-priority.
I mean, let’s not even talk about that awful Siri rollout. Jesus Christ!
“No English, no German, no French? (and whatever else they had for rollout)
Sucks to be you. Here: take this eternal waiting game. Maybe we’ll care about you when the feature has long lost its hype due to our failure to develop it properly”
International markets, Apple sucks at them.
It’s amazing how they have this craze for perfection, but only at home, elsewhere second-grade is a-ok.
All that arrives over here of that is general built quality of hardware for the most part.
Also, can’t really say their support is all that good.
It’s awful that you only get 90 days telephone support and have to pay extra for that and more than one year guarantee, when actually their products are premium and it’s not uncommon for premium category products to have extended support beyond what they are forced by law to offer.
And I hope you never feel the urge to report bugs to them.
I stopped bothering with many I find, only rarely do I feel the urge anymore to go through the frustration of the ticket being replied to super late, with only half-assed effort, the bug to maybe never get resolved etc etc…
They keep talking about saturation everywhere since the iPhone was released. It will never happen because people are always upgrading to the next great device.