Despite all of the manufacturing done therein, Apple has stumbled in China via a number of missteps that have resulted in the firm (the iPhone specifically) actually getting hammered by their main-nemisis / co-oper-tition partner Samsung. That said, it should really come as no surprise that the company is placing a stronger focus on the PRC (as evidenced by Tim aka ‘Captain Cook’s’ current / recent visit). All of the PR-spin surrounding said trip is fine and well… translating this into real growth / sales is still yet to be seen. Moreover, in light of their recent / on-going PR-snafu regarding allegations of less-than-ideal working conditions… one also has to wonder if this is another reason why their CEO visited himself versus sending another CXO-level Executive.
(Source) Bloomberg: http://goo.gl/omzZq