Tim Cook, Apple Inc's Chief Executive Officer, believes that the leading smartphone maker can crack into and dominate the Chinese mobile market. However rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has remained unbeatable in the world's largest market, where it has been around far longer and been able to establish a much better position for itself through the years.
Apple Inc announced a decline in revenue earlier this week, with its income in Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) slipping 43% to US$4.65 billion from the first quarter. The previous quarter's results was also a disappointment with a 14% slump compared to revenue a year earlier.
Profit was dragged down by a sharp drop in sales from Hong Kong. "It's not totally clear why that occurred," shared Cook with analysts in a conference call.
Apple Inc is continuously lagging behind South Korean rival in the race of what both companies said is the most important market in the 21st century. Mobile giant Samsung now has a 19% share of the smartphone market in China which is currently valued at around US$80 billion. The number is expected to climb to US117 billion in four years by the International Data Corp. (IDC), a 10 percentage point advantage over Apple which has slipped to 5th place in terms of Chinese market share.
Cook shared Apple's plans to double its retail stores in Greater China over the next two years, adding to its 8 flagship units in China and 3 stores in Hong Kong. Though the Chief Executive also remarked, Apple will invest in distribution "very cautiously because we want to do it with great quality."
Tim Cook, Apple Inc's Chief Executive Officer, believes that the leading smartphone maker can crack into and dominate the Chinese mobile market. However rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has remained unbeatable in the world's largest market, where it has been around far longer and been able to establish a much better position for itself through the years.
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