2024-03-21 13:05:53
Coinciding with the opening of the Shanghai store in China
Tim Cook runs once more following 5 months
Impact of sluggish iPhone 15 sales
“Apple and the Chinese supply chain coexist”
U.S. Department of Justice takes Apple to court
First point of view on ‘illegal market domination’
Apple CEO Tim Cook (second from right) met with three CEOs of major partner companies, including BYD Chairman Wang Chan-fu (first from right), at Apple headquarters in Shanghai, China, on the 20th (local time) and discussed supply chain cooperation plans. . [사진 출처 = 펑파이신문]
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited China once more following five months. The nominal reason for the visit to China is to commemorate the opening of Asia’s largest Apple store, Jing’an branch, on the 21st, but there are speculations that it is a move to appease the Chinese market, which has been struggling recently. Attention is focused on whether the company can escape the ‘triple hardship’ of falling far behind its competitors in generative AI innovation, being caught up in anti-monopoly laws in the US and Europe, and plummeting market share in China.
In particular, CEO Cook emphasized ‘supply chain cooperation’ while meeting with CEOs of major partners such as BYD, China’s largest electric vehicle company. CEO Cook met with the CEOs of three of the company’s partner companies, including BYD Chairman Wang Chan-fu, Lan Technology Chairman Zhou Kunfei, and Changying Precision President Chen Xiaoshuo, at Apple’s headquarters in Shanghai, China, on the 20th (local time) to discuss smart and eco-friendly manufacturing, talent development achievements, etc. discussed. CEO Cook is known to have stated several times at this event, “There is no place as important as China in Apple’s supply chain.” Partner companies also had time to demonstrate their products.
BYD became an Apple partner through a subsidiary in 2008. Starting with metal case processing, we currently provide glass and component assembly for various product lines such as iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Lan Technology has been producing glass parts for Apple products since 2006, and Changying Precision, which provides metal parts for Apple products, was selected as a partner in 2012.
According to China’s Fengpai Newspaper on this day, CEO Cook said in relation to the meeting with the partner company, “The supply chain between Apple and China has a very warm, win-win relationship,” and “The level of modernization of the Chinese factories is currently very high.” He added, “For Apple products to achieve carbon neutrality in 2030, both sides must achieve a lot of innovation.”
CEO Cook said in an interview with this newspaper that there will be an announcement on generative artificial intelligence (AI) by the end of the year. He recently made it clear that he would focus on the generative AI business following deciding to stop developing the self-driving car ‘Apple Car’. “There is incredible potential in generative AI,” said CEO Cook. “That is why we are investing heavily in this area now.”
The day before, CEO Cook announced the news of his visit to Shanghai on Weibo, a Chinese social networking service (SNS). It has been five months since my visit to China in October last year. CEO Cook revealed a photo taken with famous actor Zheng Kai from Shanghai and greeted him with “Nong Hao,” which is the Shanghainese dialect for “Ni Hao.”
The Apple Store Jing’an branch, located in central Shanghai, opened on the 21st and is the largest store in Asia. It is the second largest in the world following New York’s Fifth Avenue.
CEO Cook’s frequent visits to China recently are due to Apple’s struggles in the Chinese market. As the conflict between the US and China continues to intensify, sales of the latest model, the iPhone 15 series, are sluggish due to the ‘patriotic consumption’ craze in China. Accordingly, Apple has reduced the price of the iPhone 15 series more than twice this year alone.
To make matters worse, the U.S. Department of Justice decided to sue Apple in U.S. federal court on charges of violating antitrust laws. According to Bloomberg News, the U.S. Department of Justice believes Apple violated antitrust laws by blocking other competitors from accessing the iPhone’s hardware and software features. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Apple twice in the past 14 years, but this is the first time it has questioned its illegal market dominance.
Previously, Apple was also fined a large sum of 1.8 billion euros (regarding 2.6 trillion won) for violating antitrust laws in Europe. On the 4th, the European Commission (EC) decided to impose a fine on Apple for blocking music streaming competitors such as Spotify from providing low-cost services on its platform. At the time, EU Antitrust Commissioner Margrethe Vestager explained, “Apple has been abusing its dominant market position in distributing music streaming apps through the App Store for 10 years.”
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