Tim Cook, making his
second trip to China as Apple's CEO, predicted Friday that the world's most
populous country will one day become Apple's number one customer. "China
is currently our second largest market. I believe it will become our first. I
believe strongly that it will," the CEO said during an interview with
China's state-run Xinhua news agency. Cook did not say when he expected China
to overtake the U.S., which is currently the largest market for Apple products
by a good margin. Apple has only 11 locations in China and Hong Kong.
But Cook did indicate
that Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) is already plotting an aggressive course in
China. We are continuing to invest in retail stores here and will open many
more over the next several years," he said. "We have some great sites
selected, our manufacturing base is here, and we have incredible partners here.
So it's a very very important country to us." According to Xinhua, Cook is
using his time in China to meet with "government officials, business
partners, Apple employees and customers." The CEO also met with China
Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua in Thursday in Beijing. Rainie Lei, a spokesperson
for China Mobile, confirmed the visit but said a non-disclosure agreement
prevents the company from disclosing anything about the content of the talks. China
Mobile is the world's largest mobile provider by subscribers. It currently does
not offer the iPhone, which is sold by competitor China Unicom. Related:
Foxconn in China bribery investigation Xinhua also asked Cook about labor
disputes at Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant famous for its
production of Apple products.
"We care very
deeply about every worker that touches an Apple product, whether they are
making it, selling it, serving it or marketing it. We hold ourselves to a very
high standard there," Cook said. Related: 3 moves Apple has to make in
China
Foxconn, which also
manufactures products for Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Microsof (MSFT, Fortune
500)t and Cisc (CSCO, Fortune 500)o, said Thursday that Chinese authorities
were investigating allegations of bribery at the company. The admission came
after a report in Taiwan's Next Magazine alleged Foxconn managers were
accepting bribes from parts suppliers.
Last March, Cook toured
Foxconn's facilities in Zhengzhou and Tianjin amid reports that the supplier
had violated several labor laws.
source:NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
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