“Honour of Kings,” he said, “began here in Chengdu and is now a global phenomenon on the App Store.”
Beijing, China:
Apple chief Tim Cook made a surprise visit to China this week, greeting gamers in the southwestern city of Chengdu as his company faces slumping phone sales in its largest market.
In a post late Monday on his account on social media platform Weibo, Cook said he visited Apple’s Taikoo Li store in Chengdu and met young players of the game “Honour of Kings.”
The online battle arena game, published by Chinese tech giant Tencent, is one of the world’s most played mobile games.
“The energy tonight was off the charts!” He wrote.
“Honour of Kings,” he said, “began here in Chengdu and is now a global phenomenon on the App Store.”
“The game sets a new bar. It is so popular in China and around the world,” he told the state-run China Daily. “You can see people are so passionate about the game and so excited. It’s great to see.”
Since the American tech giant first established a presence in China in 1993, Apple has become a major supplier of smartphones, laptops and consumer electronics in the country.
During a March visit to Beijing, Cook said his company had a “symbiotic” relationship with China.
But Apple has struggled in the country in recent years, with sales hit last year by curtailed production at factories due to China’s zero-Covid policy.
U.S. export controls on high-tech components also threaten the company’s supply chain.
And sales of the new iPhone 15 in China have fallen significantly compared to previous models, Bloomberg reported this week, citing market analysts.
They pointed to declining consumption in the world’s second-largest economy, as well as intensifying competition from local rivals such as Huawei.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
