Today’s news that the US Justice Department filed a blockbuster antitrust lawsuit against Apple comes as CEO Tim Cook is making a high-profile visit to China.
The visit, which is timed with the opening of a huge new store in Shanghai, is part of a push by the company to reverse a decline in iPhone sales in its most important international market.
The new $11.6 million outlet — located in Shanghai’s central district of Jing’an, which is named after a historic temple — is the biggest in China and the second only to Apple’s flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue, Chinese state media reported.
“Nonghao Shanghai!” Apple CEO Cook said in a Weibo post on Wednesday, which means “hello” in Shanghainese. “I’m always so happy to be back in this remarkable city.”
In 2023, Apple grabbed the top spot in China’s smartphone market for the first time ever, with a record 17.3% market share, according to IDC Research.
Some context: The push in China comes as Apple (AAPL) tries to fend off competitors and revive sales in a rocky market with growing headwinds, ranging from an economic slowdown to geopolitical tensions and rising nationalist sentiment.
Now the Justice Department’s landmark suit is expected to challenge a broad range of Apple’s practices, and the legal action could weigh on the company’s stock price.
Cook’s visit, his third to the country in a year, underscores China’s significance to Apple as its biggest overseas market and a critical part of its manufacturing supply chain.
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