From March 20, Apple's CEO Tim Cook (Tim Cook) once again opened a trip to China。

Visit the opening of Asia's largest Apple retail store

On March 21, Apple's Jing'an retail store officially opened, which is located on Nanjing West Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai, just one way from Shanghai's landmark Jing'an Temple.。According to reports, Jing'an retail store covers an area of 3,835 square meters, with a total investment of more than 83.4 million yuan, is the largest Apple retail store in Asia and the world's second largest Apple retail store, second only to the flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York, USA。

On the evening of the 21st, Cook appeared at the opening of the Jing'an retail store and opened the door to the new store with Deirdre O'Brien, senior vice president of Apple's retail business, to welcome customers who had been waiting outside the store for a long time.。

Although the store opened at 19 p.m., some fruit powder had been waiting since that morning.。By the time it opens in the evening, Apple's Jing'an store is already packed.。At the opening site, Apple prepared a free limited opening gift box, which is beautifully designed and incorporates elements of the Shanghai flower magnolia, which is popular with many people.。Some people even admitted that it was for this limited gift box.。

However, due to the crowds at the scene, the store announced the closure of its business less than an hour after it opened.。It is reported that the original plan is from 19: 00 to 22: 00, a total of three hours。

Currently, Apple has 57 Apple retail stores in Greater China, and Jing'an Retail is Apple's 8th retail store in Shanghai.。

Meeting with a number of Chinese "fruit chain" executives

Before the opening of Apple's Jing'an retail store, Cook also met with China's "fruit chain" executives.。

On March 20, media reported that BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu appeared at Apple's headquarters in Shanghai to meet with Cook。

BYD's two listed companies - BYD shares and BYD Electronics, the former specializing in new energy vehicles, the latter is a platform-based high-end manufacturing enterprises.。Looking at BYD Electronics' financial results, we can see that the company's business covers a wide range of market areas, including smartphones, tablets, new energy vehicles, household energy storage, smart homes, gaming hardware, drones, Internet of Things, robots, communications equipment, medical and health equipment, etc.。Among them, the consumer electronics business is a major business of BYD Electronics。

In the first half of last year, in the global smartphone, PC, tablet and so on continue to be depressed, BYD electronics still said that it achieved market share and revenue growth。In the first half of last year, the company's consumer electronics business segment generated revenue of 410.4.8 billion yuan, up about 23.82%。

It is understood that since 2008, BYD has been involved in a number of Apple's product lines, including Apple Watch ceramic cover supply, AirPods plastic case and iPod touch assembly, iPad OEM and other businesses.。

In August last year, BYD Electronics announced the acquisition of Jabil's product manufacturing operations in Chengdu and Wuxi for 15.8 billion yuan.。According to the supplier information released by Apple, Jabil has Apple's parts production locations in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Hebei.。For the meeting between Wang Chuanfu and Cook, it was revealed that BYD Electronics will deepen cooperation with Apple and add "screen assembly related" business.。

In addition to BYD, Cook also met with two Apple suppliers, Lance Technology and Changying Precision.。These Apple suppliers showed Cook their respective smart manufacturing technologies and parts products produced for Apple.。

On the same day, in an interview with the media, Cook said, "For Apple's supply chain, I don't think there is a more important place than China, in fact, the past 30 years we have been constantly expanding our supply chain in China, and constantly increasing investment, the current level of factory modernization is very high, but I think if you look at 10 years later, looking back, may not feel how high the level of modernization today, because we will continue to progress。"

Appearance at China Development Forum

After leaving Shanghai, Cook went non-stop to Beijing to attend the China Development Forum。The theme of the forum is "Sustainable Development of China," which attracted more than 110 people from the world's top 500 enterprises and the global business community.。

On March 24, the opening ceremony of the forum's 2024 annual meeting was held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.。Before the opening ceremony, Cook said in an interview with the media: "I am very happy to come to the China Development Forum, and I am also very happy to be back in China again, and we will continue to invest in the Chinese market.。In front of the camera, Cook also said bluntly that he loves China and loves Chinese people.。

In addition, Cook also revealed that Apple's latest VR product, Vision Pro, will be available in the Chinese market this year.。At the same time, the company is continuing to increase its investment in R & D in China.。According to related reports, Apple has been going through the approval process for the listing of Vision Pro in China since last year, and will be listed in mainland China as soon as April.。

Just a week ago, Apple also announced the expansion of its application research laboratory in China, including upgrading the capacity of the Shanghai Research Center, and will open an application research laboratory in Shenzhen later this year to deepen cooperation with local suppliers.。Cook believes that China has an amazing talent team that can be of great help。

Environmental protection is the theme of this year's forum。Cook told the forum that Apple aims to achieve carbon neutrality in all products by 2030.。To achieve this goal, Apple is promoting hundreds of carbon reduction-related projects in raw material procurement, production and transportation.。He also believes that supplier support is essential for Apple to achieve its carbon-neutral goals.。He said: "I think 1 + 1 must be greater than 2, cooperation is essential.。He said that many of Apple's partners come from China, and without the cooperation of suppliers, Apple cannot achieve its goals.。

Before leaving for the China Development Forum, Cook also met with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao on the 22nd.。According to official sources, the two sides exchanged views on issues such as Apple's development in China and China-US economic and trade relations。

Wang Wentao said that China is accelerating the development of new quality productivity led by innovation, and has broad prospects for development in high-tech fields such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing, which means huge opportunities for companies from all over the world, including Apple.。Welcome Apple to continue to deepen the Chinese market and achieve common development。

Cook, for his part, said that China is rich in talent resources and innovative, and is an important market and key supply chain partner for Apple.。Apple will continue to be committed to long-term development in China, and continue to increase investment in China's supply chain, research and development and sales.。

After attending the China Development Forum, on March 25, Cook posted on his personal Weibo account: "Every time I'm in China, I can feel the unique charm here again.。Thank you very much for your warm reception! Goodbye! "

Sales in China face major challenges

The opening of Shanghai Jing'an retail store shows that Apple still attaches importance to the Chinese market。But since the Huawei Mate 60 was born last year, Apple's iPhone has encountered considerable challenges in the Chinese mainland market.。Even the introduction of the iPhone 15 has not reversed this trend。

Earlier this month, according to Counterpoint, Apple's iPhone sales in China plunged 24% year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024 as it faced fierce competition from Chinese-made phones such as Huawei.。In contrast, Huawei's mobile phone sales increased by 64% during this period.。

Meanwhile, Apple's share of China's smartphone market fell to 15.7%, ranked fourth。Huawei, on the other hand, with its outstanding performance, saw its market share increase from 9% in the same period last year..4% to 16.5%, ranked second。

Counterpoint senior analysts said that Apple is facing fierce competition from Huawei's rise in China's high-end market, and in the mid-market, Chinese handset makers such as OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi are also constantly attacking Huawei with aggressive pricing.。

Apple's first-quarter results for fiscal 2024, released on February 2, showed that Apple's revenue for the quarter reached $119.6 billion, up 2 percent year-on-year; net profit was $33.9 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year.。Notably, Apple's revenue grew in all other regional markets, with sales in Greater China alone recording a 13% year-on-year decline to 208.$1.9 billion。