Apple not aiming for specific China market share: Cook

APPLE does not have a specific goal for market share in China, where it faces the fiercest local competition anywhere, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said. China has unique characteristics, in that its mobile payment market is well ahead of the US and local consumers have a greater willingness to change habits, Cook said in Beijing. He added that Apple’s new research and development centres in the country should help the company reach China’s university community. Cook’s comments come after Apple revealed plans to set up two more research centres, on top of two announced previously, and boost investment in China. Apple is facing a growing challenge from local smartphone brands Oppo and Huawei, which have been grabbing market share and squeezing Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. since Xiaomi came on the scene around 2011. Including Vivo, Chinese vendors held the top three slots and accounted for 48 per cent of shipments in the country during 2016, according to the estimates of research firm IDC. With a lineup of flexible- and curved-screen devices, they’re aiming to dominate the market in 2017. A decline in Apple shipments in the fourth quarter has highlighted how the iPhone 7 failed to make a big splash in China. Cook said at the panel that China should open further to foreign investment, adding that globalisation has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty across the globe, even if the benefits have been uneven in many countries.