Tim Cook, Apple Inc's CEO, brushed off concerns that -Apple's market share in China is being eroded by hordes of Android-based phones made by Chinese manufacturers, which -aggressively price their offerings with impressive cost performance.
The iOS offers a user experience that is far superior to -Android-based phones and Apple is No.1 in China and the world in terms of user satisfaction, Cook said in an interview with sina.com.cn on Tuesday.
In the fiscal third quarter ended on June 25, Apple's sales in the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, once touted as Apple's next growth engine, decreased 33.1 percent, compared with a 112.4 percent growth in the year-earlier quarter, according to a report by Reuters in July.
Cook said that the depreciation of the yuan has affected Apple, which calculates its revenue in US dollars.
With the launch of iOS 10, he is more optimistic than ever about sales prospects this fall, Cook noted. He also said Apple is investing in the long term, not in a single financial quarter.
Sales of iPhones continue to fall in urban China and now trail Chinese brands such as Huawei, Xinhua News Agency reported in August.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli met Cook in Beijing on Tuesday, Xinhua reported. Cook said Apple plans to establish the first independently operated Asia-Pacific research and development center in China by the end of 2016, said the report.
