Apple CEO Tim Cook holds up a new iPhone 15 Pro during an Apple event on Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Apple CEO Tim Cook cheered on gamers at an event during a surprise visit to China, highlighting the market’s significance to the iPhone giant amidst mounting challenges.
Gamers gathered at an Apple store in Chengdu, southwestern China, to play “Honor of Kings,” a game developed by TiMi Studio, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent.
“The action-packed Honor of Kings started here in Chengdu and is now a global phenomenon on the App Store,” Cook said in a post on Chinese social media service Weibo.
Cook also shared a video of himself cheering on gamers at the tournament. Honor of Kings is one of the most popular mobile games in China and a significant revenue generator for Apple’s App Store in the country.
The Apple CEO’s visit to the company’s third-largest market comes just a month after the lukewarm reception of the iPhone 15, the company’s flagship smartphone, and as Huawei, facing setbacks, tries to make a comeback in the mobile market.
“It’s a challenging start for Apple, and various factors contribute to this,” Ethan Qi, associate director at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC via email.
Qi attributed Apple’s difficulties to negative consumer sentiment, the iPhone 15’s underwhelming performance compared to the iPhone 14, and the increasing competition in the high-end smartphone market.
“All these factors work together to diminish Apple’s shine in the early weeks of iPhone 15 sales,” Qi said.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
