“The China market was a drag on growth in Apple’s latest quarter, rather than a boost,” John Shinal reports for USA Today. “Apple’s sales in China fell 14% during the most recent quarter, even while they climbed 15% during the first nine months of the fiscal year. The reversal of Apple’s sales momentum in China came after China’s state-run media ran critical stories about the company’s warranty policy in that country, the terms of which were less consumer-friendly than the one offered to consumers in the Americas.
“After government officials made critical comments of Apple in those stories, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology about the warranty policy,” Shinal reports. “Will that apology make a difference to Apple’s fortunes in China? The answer is hard to predict.”
“Given Google’s track record in China, Cook may want to re-evaluate his company’s financial investment there if sales continue to fall in the second half of this year,” Shinal reports. “Whether he succeeds is something we won’t know until January, after Apple reports a full quarter of results that include sales of its new phones.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Errant nonsense. MDN , why do you republish without the slightest attempt at refutation so much clueless FUD these days? Consider this: might not the fact that Apple helps employ somewhere north of 750,000 Chinese workers via its many subcontractors, all over the nation, make its operation in China just a mite different than thay of Google?!
Plus, IIRC, the “Greater China” numbers were dragged down by a sharp decline in Hong Kong, which had little to do with PRC policy, and more with Hong Kong complex role in trans-shipment of Apple products to many countries. The mainland figures were actually better than the average for Greater China might lead one to believe.
I believe the last quarter sales in Cina were roughly $5 billion. That would annualized to $20 billion not counting spikes due to new products or seasonality. A $20 billion revenue figure in one country seems like a good result not a bad one. The idea that China dragged Apple down is amazingly ingnorant, in my opinion. How many companies have $20 billion in sales globally, let alone in just one country. And this is with Apple not having the largest mobile provider as a reseller. Imagine how sales would look if Apple gets that contract signed. The publicity you referred to is probably China’s hardball negotiating on this issue. Apple should just be fair and professional and they will get that business. And Apple should ignore stupid posts like this one.
China = master criminal. The Chinese government has invested heavily in computer hacking and has stolen trillions of dollars of intellectual property from companies around the world. They take what they want, and bully everyone trying to access their market into handing over key technology to gain entry.
I think Google’s response to China is the only thing I respect about them.
You say China = Master Criminal. Some of what the US does these days, like spying on 100% of citizens in the name of national security, and giving thousands of guns to Mexican druglords for no good reason, resulting in the deaths of several hundred Mexicans and several US border agents. Still, I don’t disagree that China is further along the Communist path of evil. But should Apple cede China’s business to Samsung? That will show them. Maybe the best strategy is to be Apple, sell high quality products under normal business terms and see what happens. If we take their money we can use it to promote Capitalism and representative democracy. By the way, do you recommend we pull all Apple manufacturing out of China to punish them?
It’s not possible to pull out at once. Yes, as China wages increase these type of jobs will go to lower cost regions of the world, but yet, will most likely be retained by Chinese owned companies. And yes, Samdung can have all of China. Chinese consumers crave quality goods, and they will have better clarity of the government policies and ultimately find a way to buy the goods anyway.
I don’t disagree with USA doofuses and decision making. Eric Holder is every bit the man with ulterior motives behind the curtain as Dick Cheney was for the prior administration.
But having said that I’m not aware in the least of USA government espionage and turning over the ill gotten gains to USA industry.
Eric Holder has Dick Cheney beat hands down. Cheney was accused of using an overly invasive Patriot Act to target terrorists. Holder is accused, and guilty of using the NSA Patriot Act enabled surveillance to target US citizens. Obama and Holder are both proven to have used the IRS to target political enemies, something Bush/Cheney never did. Further, Holder and Obama created the Fast and Furious program to give high powered weapons to Mexican drug cartels with zero tracking, so murders would increase and they could use this to get increased gun control legislation. Hundreds of people are now dead due to F&F. Also, Obama and Holder blamed an innocent American and jailed him for a year for the Libyan embassy attack, knowing all the while it was a planned terrorist attack. They also denied help to our people there who were killed. These are the acts of evil people. Every bit as evil as the Chinese.
Dick Cheney? Eric Holder?? Are you two really so blind?
These manequins you mention are placeholders – Holder more so than Cheney, but even he is not in anyway a driver of humanity’s bus. They are simply the people enforcing who gets to sit in the front or the back of it.
Stop with this partisan bullshit. The problem the U.S. faces are not right versus left – it’s rich versus everyone else. The left/right sides are being played – the use of hot button issues to divide them under the weight of worthless arguments, so that the bus can be driven without the passengers consent or interference.
Wise up & stop cluttering these message boards with your irrelevant blather. While people like you fiddle, the once great republic is burning.