Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook began a visit to China ahead of the opening of a new flagship store in Shanghai, weeks after a report said the company's sales in the country had fallen in early 2024, AFP reported.
Cook posted a video compilation on Chinese social media platform Weibo of him walking around Shanghai's Bund district, taking selfies and eating soup dumplings with Chinese actor Zheng Kai.
"I am always so happy to return to this remarkable city," he wrote in an accompanying caption in Chinese and English.
On March 21, Apple will open an eighth store in Shanghai, China's most populous city and its financial centre.
Cook's visit comes as concerns grow about Apple's market share in the world's second-largest economy.
A recent report by Counterpoint Research said that iPhone sales in China fell by almost a quarter year-on-year in the first 6 weeks of 2024.
The report attributed the decline to strong competition from domestic brands including tech giant Huawei but also noted the high base for comparison from the same period in 2023.
But Apple itself said in February that its net sales in Greater China - including mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan - were down year-on-year in the latest quarter.
At the time, Cook downplayed the slowing sales, saying the iPhone remained among the most popular smartphones in China.
"For the past three decades, Apple has been innovating and providing the best products and services to customers in China, and we can't wait to open our newest store (in Shanghai)," Cook said in a Weibo post earlier in March. /BGNES