Super Typhoon Yagi, the second strongest tropical cyclone of 2024, is impacting southern China, once again highlighting Apple's reliance on the country as iPhone 16 launches.
A box of Apple products marked "iPhone return for repair" actually contained over $100,000 in iPads, Apple Watch Ultras, and AirPods meant to be smuggled to China, but Customs seized the shipment.
TikTok's continued fighting with the United States government has the video app insisting that the Department of Justice has got it wrong when it comes to its association with China.
There has been an unenforced loophole in China's App Store that has allowed developers to funnel in-app payments to external payment processors, and Apple is reportedly leaning on Tencent and ByteDance to make it stop.
Investment analyst firm TD Cowen predicts that Apple Intelligence will bring a modest boost to the iPhone 16 range, but be much more significant in 2025, by when China sales are expected to have returned to growth.
Apple's fortunes in China may be getting worse in the short term, with iPhone shipments for the second quarter reportedly down year-on-year as local rivals increase competition.
Apple is getting close to opening its new materials lab in Shenzhen, China, as part of the iPhone maker's continued spending on research and development.
India is cutting back its import duty on iPhones and also selected iPhone components, meaning it will cost Apple less to bring in completed phones, and to make new ones locally.
Apple's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams has been seen in Chinese state media photographs, meeting with senior officials in the country.
Both Apple and Samsung have increased their sales in Q4 2024 compared to a year earlier, but rising competition from China's Xiaomi and others mean the iPhone's market share has dropped.
Investment firm Piper Sandler says the market is right to be excited by Apple Intelligence, and also that it sees a return to iPhone growth in the key market of China.
As part of an overall security drive, Microsoft in China has told staff they will all be required to switch to iPhone.
Apple scored a win when China ruled in its favor over an App Store antitrust suit, but now it seems to fear that its victory could backfire.
Even before the iPhone 16 hits the streets, the latest research from investment firm JP Morgan shows that iPhone sales are continuing to increase in China, helped in part by a recovering smartphone market in the region.
Customers in Japan and mainland China can now buy the Apple Vision Pro, and Apple will open up pre-orders in five more countries on Friday.
To bring Apple Intelligence to its second-largest smartphone market, Apple is going to have to sign deals with local providers, but so far has had no luck.
The new Apple Intelligence features won't be available in China any time soon, because of the country's strict regulations on artificial intelligence as well as the competition Apple has from domestic brands.
After three months as a US-exclusive, the Apple Vision Pro has now been announced for eight more countries, including China.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple has cut its iPhone component orders by 15% year over year, as users in China increasingly prefer AI and foldable smartphones from Huawei.
Apple has reportedly been in talks with China Mobile about bringing both Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade to the country.
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Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Mike Wuerthele
William Gallagher
Charles Martin
Marko Zivkovic
