“Apple Inc will boost its investment in China, one of its most important but increasingly difficult markets, and build its first Asia-Pacific research and development center in the country, Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Tuesday,” Paul Carsten reports for Reuters.
“This is at least the CEO’s second trip to the country in four months,” Carsten reports. “Apple’s new research and development center will be built by the end of the year, Cook told Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, one of China’s most senior officials, according to the official Chinese state broadcaster. The pledge comes after the head of China’s industry and technology regulator in May told Cook he hoped Apple could deepen its cooperation with the country in research and development and stressed information security.”
Carsten reports, “Before Cook’s charm offensive in Beijing in May, Apple announced a $1 billion deal with ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing, a move many experts saw as an attempt to curry favor with Beijing.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: More pay-to-play on the way? If so, hopefully it’ll be at least as good of an investment as the one Apple made in Didi.
Wouldn’t it be easier to wire the bribe money to the Chinese govt officials? Oh wait, it’s traceable, so never mind.
An R&D center in China, wow Apple’s really going global. Yahoo.
While China is a big market, I debate the wisdom of spending millions or billions there, IMHO the return is highly speculative since they change their minds on many things on a routine basis.
China is enticing Apple to invest in China. In the end, Apple will get screwed.