Tim Cook: Chinese Consumer Tastes Fueling Gold Color Options, Apple Watch Developer Interest High

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently confirmed China's integral part in the company's decision to pursue a gold design option in many of its devices. Speaking with a Chinese-language version of Bloomberg Businessweek, Cook stated that the addition of a gold option within the iPhone 5s lineup in 2013 "reflects in part the popularity of that color among Chinese users."

Gold Apple Products

Apple Inc. takes Chinese consumer tastes into account when it designs many of its products, Chief Executive Tim Cook said, underscoring the country’s importance to the iPhone maker.

The decision to offer a gold iPhone last year reflects in part the popularity of that color among Chinese users, he added. Greater China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, is now Apple’s second-largest market and has become a battleground for the company as it vies with Samsung Electronics Co. and Xiaomi Corp. for smartphone supremacy.

Apple's decision to tailor major aspects of its devices to China makes sense, given the Greater China area has become the company's second-largest market over the last few years. In the second quarterly earnings call of 2015, Cook detailed an all-time quarterly revenue record for the Greater China province, growing 71 percent year over year to a grand total of $16.8 billion. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, China accounted for a total of 29 percent of Apple's revenue in the March quarter.

In the same interview, the Apple CEO reiterated strong developer support for the Apple Watch with over 3500 apps available for the new wrist-worn device. That compares to roughly 500 apps available for the iPhone at the 2008 debut of the App Store and 1000 for the iPad at its 2010 launch.

Cook finished the interview by noting Apple plans to begin more than 180 trial programs in various schools in China, with an aim to "transform traditional educational models and help students contribute to society." Cook and Apple hope to do this through various Apple-inspired training programs, from helping kids learn the ins-and-outs of music composition with GarageBand to teaching hearing-impaired children how to use smartphones. The company hopes to see the program double in number by the end of 2015.

Tag: China
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
128 months ago
Enough of that Chinese ******** and fix both iOS and OS X... They're crap these days... :mad::mad:
Believe it or not, the person in charge of choosing the hue and temperature of gold used in aluminum casings is not the same person who squashes software bugs.
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
phillipduran Avatar
128 months ago
Gold iDevices are also faster than the grey or white ones.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eithanius Avatar
128 months ago
Enough of that Chinese ******** and fix both iOS and OS X... They're crap these days... :mad::mad:
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bushido Avatar
128 months ago
well i am a german dude and i love my gold iPhone 6 and iPad as well so thanks taylor sw ... i mean China
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gasu E. Avatar
128 months ago
Chinese taste for gold colours is hideous and gaudy...


According to ISO-3324, the standard for gaudiness, and ISO-3427, the hideousness standard, you are correct. Hideousness and gaudiness are completely objective and not subject to individual taste or cultural bias at all.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
atheist. Avatar
128 months ago
Chinese taste for gold colours is hideous and gaudy...
And you opinion matters why exactly?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)