According to Interface News, on October 23rd, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. (AAPL, stock price $235.86, market value $3.6 trillion), responded to a reporter's question during a visit to Weibo about when Apple Intelligence will enter China, saying, "We are working hard to promote it, and there is a very specific regulatory process behind it. We need to go through this process and hope to bring it to Chinese consumers as soon as possible
It is understood that Apple Intelligence was initially unveiled at WWDC2024 (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference). This AI assistant utilizes generative AI models to provide users with more convenient services.
Apple introduced that Apple Intelligence will first be tested in the American English version, and plans to launch a localized English version in December this year. Subsequently, Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish versions will be officially launched next year.
According to the Industrial and Information Technology WeChat News, on October 23rd, Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong met with Apple Inc. (AAPL, stock price $235.86, market value $3.6 trillion) CEO Tim Cook in Beijing to exchange views on topics such as Apple's development in China, network data security management, and cloud services.
Jin Zhuanglong stated that in recent years, China has orderly expanded its opening-up in the telecommunications sector, creating new opportunities for foreign enterprises to invest and develop in China. We will continue to expand high-level opening-up to the outside world, vigorously promote digital industrialization and industrial digitization, and provide more opportunities and a better environment for investors from all countries. I hope Apple will continue to deeply cultivate the Chinese market, increase innovation investment, grow together with Chinese enterprises, and share the dividends of high-quality development.
Cook stated that Apple is willing to actively seize the opportunities of China's opening up to the outside world, continue to increase investment in China, and help promote the high-quality development of its industrial and supply chains.
In August of this year, Apple disclosed its financial report for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024 (i.e. the second quarter of the calendar year). The company achieved a revenue of 85.777 billion US dollars in the quarter, a year-on-year increase of 5%; The net profit was 21.448 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 8%. Despite achieving dual growth in revenue and profit globally in the second quarter, Apple's flagship product, the iPhone, experienced a sustained decline in revenue. Meanwhile, Apple has encountered a downturn in the Chinese market, with its revenue in Greater China reaching $14.728 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 6.5%. According to Canalys statistics, Apple fell out of the top five sales rankings in the Chinese smartphone market for the first time in the second quarter.
Regarding this, Tim Cook stated during the earnings conference call that sales in the entire Greater China region decreased by 6.5% year-on-year. But if calculated at a fixed exchange rate, the decline is less than 3%. This quarter, the number of iPhone installations reached a historic high.
It is worth noting that recently, during the 2024 Double 11 E-commerce Festival, Apple's iPhone 16 series, which has only been released for one month, saw a price reduction across all models, marking the first official channel price reduction since the release of the new phone.
The official flagship store of Apple Store announced the Tmall Double 11 promotion, which will be available in stock at 8pm on October 21st. The iPhone 16 series will receive a maximum discount of 1600 yuan.
According to the official Tmall Apple flagship store promotion, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods and other series of products enjoy varying degrees of discount. The entire iPhone 16 series can receive a 500 yuan coupon, with a starting price of 5499 yuan. The starting price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max drops to 9499 yuan, which is close to the price of third-party channels. Consumers can also enjoy an additional subsidy of trade in, up to 1100 yuan.