Tim Cook Pledges More Apple Investment in China
August 16 2016 - 10:10AM
Dow Jones News
BEIJING—Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook, in a meeting with
senior government officials, pledged to increase investment in
China and set up an "independent" research center, China's state
media reported Tuesday.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported in its evening news
program that Mr. Cook met Tuesday with China Vice Premier Zhang
Gaoli. The report didn't show Mr. Cook speaking, only listening to
Mr. Zhang.
An Apple spokeswoman didn't immediately reply to a request to
confirm the report.
The report comes as Apple faces multiple headwinds in China,
including the shutdown of its online book and movies services,
tighter cybersecurity regulations and slowing iPhone sales. Once
Apple's fastest-growing region, China has been the company's
biggest drag on sales in the past two quarters as Chinese rivals
produce increasingly competitive products.
CCTV didn't elaborate on what an "independent" research and
development center would entail. But China has been leaning on
Apple and other U.S. technology companies to store their data
locally, share source code with the government and accept reviews
to prove their products are secure, according to industry groups.
Source code is a company's proprietary software.
Apple revealed in April that it has refused requests from
Chinese authorities to share source code. That month, China also
shut down Apple's online book and movie services, telling the
company it lacked the necessary licenses, according to people
familiar with the matter.
Apple has since sought to get back in Beijing's good graces by
investing $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing
Technology Co. in May.
Mr. Cook also said he would support China's plan to update
traditional manufacturing industries with automation and Internet
technologies, according to CCTV.
Terry Gou, chairman of Apple's main contract manufacturer
Foxconn Technology Group, was also shown at the Beijing meeting in
the CCTV report. A Foxconn spokesman didn't immediately reply to a
request for comment.
China has previously used state media to put pressure on Apple.
In 2014, CCTV ran a segment that accused the iPhone of being a
"national security risk" due to its feature for tracking user
locations. Apple said a day later it "appreciated" the report, and
added it didn't have access to user locations.
That year, Apple moved Chinese customer data to a facility
operated by local telecom carrier China Telecom Corp. and said the
data was encrypted and not accessible by China Telecom.
Write to Eva Dou at eva.dou@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 16, 2016 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)
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