Apple plans to open 2 more research centres, boost investment in China

BEIJING: Apple Inc has revealed plans to set up two more research centres and boost investment in China, a pivotal market in which the iPhone has been rapidly elbowed aside by local rivals.

The announcement comes as chief executive officer Tim Cook undertakes his latest trip to a country that ranks as Apple’s single biggest overseas market.

Apple said it plans to build new research facilities in the eastern Chinese cities of Shanghai and Suzhou, on top of centres already slated for Beijing and the southern city of Shenzhen.

It also pledged to spend at least 3.5 billion yuan (RM2.24 billion) on research institutions.

All four centres will open later this year, the company said in a statement on its Chinese website. They will help Apple cooperate with local partners and attract talent from its local suppliers as well as from top educational institutes, according to its press release.

The announcement came a day before Cook is scheduled to address a high-profile economic forum here, where senior government officials will confer with the heads of some of the world’s biggest corporations, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

Foreign companies have a longestablished tradition of building research bases in China to both signal their commitment to the country and curry favour with the government.

Apple’s announcement comes after iPhone shipments fell for the first time in China on an annual basis, last year1.

China had for years driven Apple’s spectacular growth, even as smartphone demand elsewhere faltered. But local vendors like Huawei Technologies Co, Oppo and Vivo are now eroding its market share with increasingly highend devices.

The US company is counting on the release of the 10th anniversary iPhone later this year to supercharge growth. Bloomberg