Apple's Tim Cook Is In China On iPhone Business

China is Apple's fastest growing iPhone and iPad market, with the company recently opening several retail stores in the nation. In December, Chinese consumers bought in excess of 2 million iPhone 5 handsets within three days of its launch there. Now the company's CEO Tim Cook has taken his second trip to the nation, where he is presently in talks with both partners and government officials.

Earlier today, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei met with Cook. The two are reported to have talked about the smartphone industry in general, as well as trends in innovation, followed by a discussion on Cook's part specifically about its developments in China, according to the Chinese agency's website.

An Apple spokesperson in China, Carolyn Wu, offered this statement. "Tim is in Beijing meeting with government officials and partners. China is an important market for us and we look forward to continued customer excitement and growth here." She would not, however, say whether Cook is meeting with China Mobile, as many suspect is the case.

Although China is a fast growing market for Apple, analyst state that Apple needs to get on board with China Mobile, the nation's most-used carrier, if it wants to thrive in the market long term. Presently, Apple is partnered with the two lesser carriers in China, China Unicom and China Telecom, but is said to be caught up in revenue issues with China Mobile. Apple has been in talks with the carrier for four years.

[via Reuters]