Apple’s Exclusive: Apple's Tim Cook to visit China to Improve Mobile Carriers

Apple’s Exclusive: Apple's Tim Cook to visit China to Improve Mobile Carriers

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook is in Beijing this week meeting with China’s largest mobile carriers as the company faces a tougher environment in its second-largest market.

Mr. Cook met with China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the carrier said. Apple’s CEO also met with officials at China Unicom (Hong Kong) on Wednesday, a person familiar with the matter said. In a statement, China’s third mobile carrier, China Telecom Corp., said Mr. Cook also met with senior managers, though it didn’t offer details.

China Apple representatives did not immediately comment on the visit.

Although the details of the meetings were not available, Mr. Cook, and China Mobile has repeatedly said it is in talks with Apple about the iPhone is the deal. China Mobile is the largest airline in the country's 700 million customers, but do not sell the iPhone is fully compatible with its network. China Unicom, the country's second largest airline, and began selling the iPhone in 2009, China Telecom began selling it last year.

Cook five years ago often traveled to China since taking the helm of Apple, but a recent visit comes at a critical time.

From weakening smartphone sales to the loss of an iPhone trademark dispute and the suspension of some of its online entertainment services, the U.S. technology giant has been facing a flurry of problems in recent weeks in its second-largest market after the United States.

It is feared that Apple's growth momentum, the company last week announced a 13-year decline in revenues in the first quarter has been raised.

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said that the TV is completely sold on Apple's part, it is very difficult for the government to engage in Apple's China Economic recession and concerns that have been made, citing the cable network last week in an interview with CNBC.

He said the source, who requested anonymity because the plan has not yet including those responsible for publicity, has announced - during his visit to China, Cook, senior government officials and Communist Party leaders plan to meet.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment by Reuters.




STRICT CURBS:

In recent weeks, the company's Web content and data storage to control the operations of the government to ensure the rehabilitation has wandered in range.

Apple's online book and film services were shut in China last month, cutting off a potential source of income, following Beijing's introduction of regulations in March imposing strict curbs on online publishing, particularly for foreign firms.

In the era of President Xi Jinping, China's reliance on foreign technology to turn off, especially in such important areas as banks and insurance companies have been trying. And foreign companies strongly the new rules, which they threatened to cut them out of these industries opposed.

Harsh censorship and many foreign technology companies closed down the online services, foreign governments and business groups, anger sparking.

"And to come in and make it very difficult for Apple to sell there," Icahn said last week in an interview with CNBC that the Chinese government.




In China, Apple to hand over the source code has been asked by the authorities in the past two years, but the company refused to Apple, according to a senior lawyer.

Despite growing concerns about its activity in China - in the Greater China decreased, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, Apple's revenue, 26 percent in the last quarter - Cook was optimistic.

said during last week's earnings call. "We are still optimistic on the Chinese."




Apple CEO Tim Cook's company in Beijing, the largest mobile operators in the form of a meeting this week with China its second largest market, is facing a difficult environment.

A spokesman for the carrier, China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua, Mr. Cook on Tuesday met with. A person familiar with the matter, Apple's CEO on Wednesday, China Unicom (Hong Kong) met with officials in. Mr. Cook, a third mobile carrier in China, China Telecom's statement also met with senior managers, although he did not provide details.