Apple is struggling in China as sales decline amid cutthroat competition with domestic brands, but CEO Tim Cook says he is confident of a rebound on the back of rising demand for the iPhone 17 line-up.
The US tech giant’s revenue in Greater China, which covers mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, dropped 4 per cent year on year to US$14.5 billion in the three months ended September, the company reported on Thursday.
On a conference call with analysts, Cook attributed China’s sales weakness to “supply constraints” during the quarter that affected the availability of some iPhone 16 and 17 models, despite strong demand.
He expressed optimism that the China market would return to growth, citing the positive reception of the iPhone 17 series.
“With [store] traffic being up significantly year on year and [because of] the reception of the [iPhone] 17 family, we expect to return to growth this quarter,” Cook said.
