“I get updates on our performance in China every day, including this morning, and I can tell you that we have continued to experience strong growth for our business in China through July and August. Growth in iPhone activations has actually accelerated over the past few weeks, and we have had the best performance of the year for the App Store in China during the last two weeks.”
— Tim Cook, Apple CEO, in an email to CNBC’s Jim Cramer this morning as the U.S. markets plummet and Apple’s shares plunge, brought about by China’s weakening economy. Like other multinational companies, Apple sees China as a key source of growth. Amid China worries, Apple’s stock has fallen about 20 percent in the past month. A report last week didn’t help, either: China smartphone sales fell for the first time in the second quarter, with Gartner saying that nation’s market has “reached saturation.”
But Cook added: “I continue to believe that China represents an unprecedented opportunity over the long term as LTE penetration is very low, and most importantly the growth of the middle class over the next several years will be huge.”
Apple is down more than 2.5 percent this morning, to $102.92. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell as much as 1,000 points in early trading, is down about 600 points at the moment.
Photo: Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday took the unusual step of trying to reassure investors about the company’s performance as its stock tanks. (Associated Press archives)
