DailyTech - Tim Cook Heads Back to China for Apple Expansion

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Gadgets Tim Cook Heads Back to China for Apple Expansion
Tiffany Kaiser - January 8, 2013 2:21 PM

10 comment(s) - last by retrospooty.. on Jan 9 at 7:30 AM

(Source: amazonaws.com)

This is Cook's second trip in 10 months

In an effort to expand in the country, Apple CEO Tim Cook has made his second trip to China in under a year.

Cook is currently in China meeting with Miao Wei, head of the Ministry of Industry. He's looking into broadening Apple's business in China, including the information technology industry and global mobile communications.

Cook made his first trip to China in March 2012, and since then, Apple has increased its number of stores in China from six to 11.

In 2011, many counterfeit Apple stores started popping up around China. In July of that year, a store located in Kunming, which wasn't identified as an authorized Apple retailer, imitated the real thing right down to employees wearing identical Apple employee t-shirts and the solid white shelves/walls featuring the products.

Later in August 2011, 22 additional unauthorized Apple retailers were found throughout China. These unauthorized Apple retailers have been forced to stop using Apple's logo, and a complaint hotline along with increased monitoring is being put into place to prevent any further reselling of Apple products.

Last month, it was reported that Apple, which previously held the No. 4 spot in the Chinese mobile phone market, slipped to No. 6 in Q3 due to its low number of shipments. Cook is likely looking to correct this, considering China is the largest market for mobile phones.

It is unclear how long Cook will be in China or who else he'll be meeting with.

Source: Bloomberg