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

Monday May 16, 2016 5:59 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
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.

Tags: China, Tim Cook, Apple, Beijing, Didi Chuxing
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iLoveDeveloping
48 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.
Rating: 20 Votes
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SDAVE
48 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.
Rating: 19 Votes
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Johannesburg
48 months ago
I wonder what VPN Tim used.
Rating: 16 Votes
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juanm
48 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?
Rating: 11 Votes
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PJivan
48 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

Rating: 10 Votes
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SDAVE
48 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.
Rating: 8 Votes
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pat500000
48 months ago
Tim Crook, confused CEO.
Rating: 8 Votes
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Dale Dangler
48 months ago
It's almost embarrassing watching Cook and crew endlessly pucker up to China while the stock continues to tumble. Apple didn't become what Apple is today by worrying about profit margins and the bottom line. Apple got to where it is or was by focusing on making the greatest products money could buy. The rest seemed to take care of itself. I'm not saying Apple is doomed. I do however feel Apple has lost some of its magic.
Rating: 7 Votes
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Glideslope
48 months ago
Tim, your prostitution of Apple nauseates me. :apple:
Rating: 5 Votes
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smacrumon
48 months ago
Interesting. Under Cook's CEOship, there seems to be a more outward expression of what Apple is up to, more potentially staged publicity for the social media generation. Not a judgement, but an observation. Hopefully the true surprises era isn't truely over. Anymore secret double life products ahead?

[MEDIA=youtube]nY_ABCZJcpc[/MEDIA]
Rating: 5 Votes

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