AppleInsider Staff
A report early Tuesday claims Apple chief Tim Cook was recently in China to meet with partner carrier China Telecom, possibly to discuss the upcoming debut of a rumored low-cost iPhone and declining sales growth in the region.
Citing sources familiar with Cook's meeting, tech.ifeng.com reports the Apple executive met with China Telecom's senior leadership this week. As of this writing, the talks are supposedly over, though it is not known if Cook has returned to the U.S.
While the topic of the "secret" meeting was not revealed, the publication speculates talks could have focused on leveling sales seen during the July quarter, as well as the possible introduction of a "new generation" iPhone.
It is unclear if the handset being referred to is Apple's expected annual iPhone revamp, or a new model some have taken to calling the "iPhone Lite." On Sunday, an image purporting to show the cheaper model's packaging displayed the name "iPhone 5C."
The Chinese website goes on to say that industry analysts believe Cook visited China to bolster relationships between Apple and its partner carriers China Telecom and China Unicom.
Cook previously visited China in March 2012 when he toured a plant operated by partner manufacturer Foxconn. Most recently, the executive met with China Mobile in January to discuss "matters of cooperation" with the world's largest cellular provider.
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10 Comments
On a side note: based on the observations made by that French website referred to by 9to5mac I think the packagings are fake. Which does not imply anything about the "plastic" iPhone will in fact be named like that or not.
Tim Cook has been an amazing CEO so far. I'm glad to hear he continues to get his feet on the ground to see why Apple's sales are light rather than staying in an office in Cupertino speculating. Keep it up Tim, and get that China mobile deal finalized!
"Reportedly"?
This sounds the sighting of Superman or someone similar. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Tim Cook! Reportedly, ...
I presume that Tim has "inherited" Steve's personal corporate jet. That would help explain the difficulty in tracing his movements. I wonder too about his yacht. Has his wife used or sold it? Must cost a fortune in docking fees. Anyone?
[quote name="ankleskater" url="/t/158775/apple-ceo-tim-cook-reportedly-visited-china-to-meet-with-china-telecom#post_2370625"]"Reportedly"? This sounds the sighting of Superman or someone similar. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Tim Cook! Reportedly, ... [/quote] So what cheap shots can we come up with today? Oh, here's one, they used the standard journalese word "reportedly" in a headline. Let's make a distracting noise about that.