Tim Cook Visits China For "Greater Investment"

The world's most heavily populated country has has Tim Cook as its guest this past week, Apple assuring Chinese officials from Beijing that they would be investing further in the country as it opens up to the mobile world. This visit is not the first time Apple has been in the country, of course, with both parts factories and sales hitting the news headlines for quite a few months now. Apple's few retail stores in China have blossomed in the short time they've been there, with Cook's visit coming amid promises that the successful retail model Apple has in the USA will expand to China past their initial "test phase."

Cook spoke with Chinese officials throughout last week and Apple is represented in the talks this week to the press by Beijing-based spokeswoman Carolyn Wu. Chinese officials and Cook had "great meetings" according to Wu, and expansion is inevitable on the very near horizon. Wu let the world know without too much detail that, for Apple, "China is very important to us and we look forward to even greater investment and growth here."

Currently Apple has two stores in Beijing, three in Shanghai, and one in Hong Kong. Back in 2010, then-head of retail Ron Johnson projected that Apple would have a total of 25 stores by the end of this year – but you never know, they might beat the odds and deliver one fantastic wave of retail in the coming months. While the Foxconn plants in the country may have held the headlines over the past few weeks, we're expecting some big moves from Apple in the months ahead in China.

[via Bloomberg]