Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner holds up a brand new iPhone 15 Professional throughout an Apple occasion on Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Pictures Information | Getty Pictures
Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner cheered on avid gamers at an occasion throughout a shock go to to China, underscoring the market’s significance to the iPhone big at a time when it faces mounting challenges.
Avid gamers gathered at an Apple retailer in Chengdu in southwestern China to play “Honor of Kings,” a sport developed by TiMi Studio, which is owned by Chinese language tech big Tencent.
“The action-packed Honor of Kings began right here in Chengdu and is now a worldwide phenomenon on the App Retailer,” Prepare dinner stated in a put up on Chinese language social media service Weibo.
Prepare dinner additionally posted a video of himself cheering on avid gamers on the event. Honor of Kings is likely one of the greatest cellular video games in China and a considerable income driver for Apple’s App Retailer within the nation.
The Apple CEO’s go to to the corporate’s third-largest market comes just below a month after the iPhone 15, the corporate’s flagship smartphone, went on sale to a seemingly lukewarm reception, and as a overwhelmed down Huawei makes an attempt to make a comeback within the cellular market.
“It is a powerful begin for Apple to make sure and it is a mixture of things driving this,” Ethan Qi, affiliate director at Counterpoint Analysis, informed CNBC by way of e-mail.
Qi attributed Apple’s challenges to poor shopper sentiment, the iPhone 15’s poorer efficiency than the iPhone 14 and rising competitors within the high-end smartphone market.
“All of these items are working collectively to take among the shine away from Apple’s lustre through the first few weeks of iPhone 15 gross sales,” Qi stated.
