After meeting with Jin Zhuanglong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Apple (AAPL, Financials) CEO Tim Cook pledged further investments in China, according to a government WeChat statement. Cook underlined Apple’s intentions to increase its Chinese investments and emphasized the company’s responsibility to help grow the Chinese supply chain.
Particularly in areas such as cloud services and secure data management, Jin Zhuanglong advised Cook to have a strong presence in China and focus on more inventions. The conference underscored China’s continued efforts to attract international capital in the face of economic uncertainty.
With recent sales of its iPhone models up 20% year-over-year in the first three weeks, Counterpoint Research indicates that Apple is still a major player in the Chinese smartphone industry. Reflecting concerns about the broader economic environment, foreign investors pulled a record amount of money out of China in the second quarter despite this surge.
Cook also said that Apple is trying to offer artificial intelligence services to its Chinese consumers, but the program’s launch is subject to government approval first. After signing a contract with OpenAI to include ChatGPT in its latest phones, the company has yet to find a local partner for AI services. China’s rules pose a major obstacle for international companies and require approval for generative artificial intelligence services.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
