Apple developers earn $17B from China
wuzhen (China)/beijing — Apple CEO Tim Cook said developers using its platform in China number 1.8 million and have earned a total 112 billion yuan ($16.93 billion), representing roughly a quarter of total global App Store earnings.
Cook shared the data on Sunday during a speech at China’s top public cyber policy forum, the World Internet Conference, organised by the Cybersecurity Administration of China, which oversees Internet regulation including censorship.
Earlier this year, Apple said that developers had earned roughly $70 billion in total revenue through the store.
Apple is facing criticism from local users and rights groups for bowing to pressure from Beijing cyber regulators after it decided to remove hundreds of apps from its Chinese store this year, including messaging apps and virtual private network services, which help users subvert China’s Great Firewall.
Apple counts China as its thirdlargest region by sales but it has lost market share in recent years as high-end handsets from local rivals continue to gain traction. The firm is hoping to regain momentum following the release of its iPhone 8 and iPhone X models which shipped in November. The US tech giant said earlier it had moved its Chinese cloud data onto the servers of a local partner in the Chinese province of Guizhou.
Cook has come to China several times this year, including an October visit where he was among executives that met with President Xi Jinping, who also had prepared remarks read at the conference on Sunday.
Cook’s attendance is conspicuous at the conference, marking the first high-level executive to attend in the event’s four-year history. Others included Google chief executive Sundar Pichai, who is also attending the conference for the first time. Meanwhile, Cook has called for future Internet and AI technologies to be infused with privacy, security and humanity.
Cook made the comments at the opening ceremony of the conference. “The theme of this conference — developing a digital economy for openness and shared benefits — is a vision we at Apple share,” Cook said. “We are proud to have worked alongside many of our partners in China to help build a community that will join a common future in cyberspace.”
Cook’s comments come at a pivotal point for the company’s future in China, which is now its biggest market outside of North America. It relies on the sale of hardware and services in the world’s most populated country to propel revenue and profit growth. But the efforts required to stay in China’s good graces are causing tensions with civil libertarians and politicians at home. — Reuters/Bloomberg