Apple chief meets telecoms in China visit

Apple Inc's CEO Tim Cook met with senior executives of the company's carrier partners China Telecom and China Mobile Tuesday morning during a visit to China, news portal qq.com reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

The topics of their meetings included communication on a strategic level, sales of iPhone products and the introduction of next-generation products to China, the report said.

China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua and other senior executives discussed matters of cooperation with Cook, the sources said. However, no further details have been released due to a confidentiality agreement, the report said.

Insiders said Cook's visit to China has the goal of improving relations with China's telecom operators, as well as reaching cooperation with China Mobile, the country's largest telecom carrier by subscribers, in a move to reverse the decline of Apple's performance.

Apple Inc saw its revenue from greater China - including the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan - slump 43 percent in the fiscal third quarter ended June 29 from the previous quarter and 14 percent from a year earlier. It is the first revenue fall for the region since the firm started breaking down its financial performance for greater China in the quarter ended December 29.

Cook told a conference call after Apple released its quarterly report that the company planned to double the number of its retail stores in China over the next two years, but he also said Apple will be very cautious in investing in distribution because the company wants to guarantee quality.

It is Cook's third visit to China as Apple's CEO. During previous visits in March 2012 and January 2013, he met with senior officials of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as senior executives with China's three telecom carriers.

Apple, which has partnered with China Unicom and China Telecom to sell its iPhones in China, has 350 million users in the market, news portal ifeng.com reported Tuesday.

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