Tim Cook Visits Beijing, Shares Ride to Apple Store Using Didi Chuxing

As planned, Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Beijing on Monday for his latest visit to China, where the iPhone maker has experienced a turbulent few months. Earlier today, he caught a ride using Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-sharing service that Apple just invested $1 billion in, alongside the Uber rival's president Jean Liu.

Tim-Cook-Beijing-Visit

Cook meets with Liu, left, and developers at an Apple Store in Beijing (Image: CNBC)

While an earlier report said Cook plans to meet with senior Chinese government officials to discuss a range of issues, including iBooks and iTunes Movies store closures and a recent patent dispute, the CEO has thus far met with App Store developers at an Apple Store in Beijing for a seminar hosted by Liu, per CNBC.

At the Apple store, Cook attended a seminar hosted by Didi Chuxing's President Jean Lui, also known as Liu Qing, and attended by the founders and CEOs of some of China's top app providers, including Groupon-like Meituan, picture-editing app MeituPic, news content provider Toutiao.com, culinary app DayDayCook and game developer Tap4Fun.

Cook, who shared photos of his visit on Twitter and Weibo, understands the importance of Apple maintaining a positive image in China.

Greater China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, is Apple's second largest market by revenue after the U.S. Last month, the iPhone maker reported that sales dropped 26 percent in the region in the second quarter, primarily due to declining iPhone sales as China's smartphone market becomes increasingly saturated.

Cook has made similar visits to Beijing to meet with Chinese officials, carrier partners, and customers in both 2012 and 2014.

Top Rated Comments

iLoveDeveloping Avatar
103 months ago
Anyone else have a bad feeling Tim is just ending up being another John Scully.. They kinda think the same, even something as simple as the iPhone 6 & S fragmentation shows just how he thinks. It's not right, it's about simplicity Tim, zen, not profit margins and split product lines. Someone like Tim Cook can never keep Apple going the way it should be, he's a suit, not a Jobs.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SDAVE Avatar
103 months ago
The beginning of the end of Apple.

Apple was never a singular product-based company.

Tim is just a numbers guy.

Steve is missed.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Johannesburg Avatar
103 months ago
I wonder what VPN Tim used.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
juanm Avatar
103 months ago

Tim Cook brought us... an iWatch-Pod-Phone. And a ... nothing else.
What do you mean nothing else? Do all those fancy watch bands mean nothing to you?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PJivan Avatar
103 months ago
The beginning of the end of Apple.

Apple was never a singular product-based company.

Tim is just a numbers guy.

Steve is missed.
Like 4" smartphone....or mobile me or G4 cube, or Mac TV, trying to sell pixar...is really funny how people forget al the negative aspect once a person die, he definitely made jackpot but is not like Apple never miss a shot under his guidance, a mean.... like if Apple was doomed after 2011..number don't agree with you

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SDAVE Avatar
103 months ago
Like 4" smartphone....or mobile me or G4 cube, or Mac TV, trying to sell pixar...is really funny how people forget al the negative aspect once a person die, he definitely made jackpot but is not like Apple never miss a shot under his guidance, a mean.... like if Apple was doomed after 2011..number don't agree with you

That's not the point. Those profit margins will fall dramatically and Apple will decline as a company and/or possibly move to a backseat-type of a company, maybe moving into electric automobiles....things that other companies like Tesla are already doing very successfully.

The point is, Steve was one of those guys at the top of a huge company telling people that this sucks, or this is good, release that, etc. He knew what people needed/wanted before anyone else.

Like I said, Tim is a numbers guy. He sees numbers go up in an area and puts more into that category so they can make more money. He is Steve's protege since 1997 after all.

Apple relies 70% of their profits on iOS devices and that will decline due to democratization of mobile devices. All mobile devices look the same now and have similar functions. Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi are closing that gap as well, especially in the "Affordable premium" mobile devices.

Apple needs a new leader, Tim is, like I said, a numbers guy and wants to please the board and stockholders.

Apple, historically, did well when it broke new product lines. Some were good, some were bad. That's what kept Steve going, in my opinion. He took big risks.

The Apple Watch is not a huge risk, and I bet you that was even a project on the back burner that Steve worked on.

The decline of Mac sales and iOS sales is a sure sign of an end to an era.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...