Apple CEO Visits China for Second Time This Year as Sales Slump

CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Apple CEO Visits China for Second Time This Year as Sales Slump

CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US September 9, 2024. (Reuters)

Apple CEO Tim Cook was in China for the second time this year, he said on social media Tuesday, as the US technology giant seeks to shore up slumping sales in a crucial overseas market.

The iPhone maker remains popular among Chinese consumers but has ceded ground to domestic rivals in recent years as the Asian nation faces slowing economic growth and sluggish consumption.

Cook said Tuesday on his official account on social media platform Weibo that he had met with Chinese university students using Apple products to boost sustainable farming practices.

And in another video uploaded to his official page late Monday, Cook accompanied fashion photographer Chen Man on a walk through a historic quarter of the Chinese capital.

"It's great to be back in Beijing," Cook wrote.

Apple reported a $21.4 billion profit in the three months ending in June, on $85.8 billion in revenue over the period. The revenue was a five percent jump from a year ago.

But the iPhone maker's sales in China have come under pressure from homegrown competitors like Huawei in recent years.

The company was only the sixth-biggest smartphone vendor in China in the second quarter, down from the third biggest in the equivalent period last year, according to data by Canalys, a market analysis firm.

Cook last visited China in March, when he opened a new Apple store in Shanghai and attended a forum in Beijing alongside other top executives.



Canada Sues Google over Alleged Anticompetitive Practices in Online Ads

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
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Canada Sues Google over Alleged Anticompetitive Practices in Online Ads

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google LLC is shown on a building in San Diego, California, US, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Canada's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it is suing Google over alleged anticompetitive conduct in the tech giant’s online advertising business and wants the company to sell off two of its ad tech services and pay a penalty.
The Competition Bureau said that such action is necessary because an investigation into Google found that the company “unlawfully” tied together its ad tech tools to maintain its dominant market position, The Associated Press said.
The matter is now headed for the Competition Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body that hears cases brought forward by the competition commissioner about non-compliance with the Competition Act.
The bureau is asking the tribunal to order Google to sell its publisher ad server, DoubleClick for Publishers, and its ad exchange, AdX. It estimates Google holds a market share of 90% in publisher ad servers, 70% in advertiser networks, 60% in demand-side platforms and 50% in ad exchanges.
This dominance, the bureau said, has discouraged competition from rivals, inhibited innovation, inflated advertising costs and reduced publisher revenues.
“Google has abused its dominant position in online advertising in Canada by engaging in conduct that locks market participants into using its own ad tech tools, excluding competitors, and distorting the competitive process," Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition, said in a statement.
Google, however, maintains the online advertising market is a highly competitive sector.
Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, said in a statement that the bureau’s complaint “ignores the intense competition where ad buyers and sellers have plenty of choice.”
The statement added that Google intends to defend itself against the allegation.
US regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade.
The proposed breakup, floated in a 23-page document filed this month by the US Department of Justice, calls for sweeping punishments that would include a sale of Google’s industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions to prevent Android from favoring its own search engine.