Apple’s new CEO must navigate twin challenges in China — of competing in an increasingly fractured market, while maintaining efforts to reduce reliance on the country as a supplier.
Outgoing boss Tim Cook won plaudits from analysts and investors for adroitly managing Apple’s relations with Beijing, even as tensions intensified between the US and China: He built the company’s manufacturing prowess on Chinese capabilities, and rode the wave of China’s fast-growing market to sell huge numbers of products.
His successor John Ternus now has to unwind some of that supply dependency, an effort Cook began in response to overreliance concerns, and ready Apple for cutthroat competition from domestic smartphone makers in an AI-powered era.
