Dive Brief:
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Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said Monday that the company’s China business experienced strong growth in July and August.
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Cook said iPhone activations in China grew, and the App Store in China had its best performance of the year during the past two weeks.
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Slowing economic growth in China has Apple's investors' concerned about growing competition from local rivals.
Dive Insight:
Because Apple gets over a quarter of its sales from China, Cook is seeking to ease investor concerns over the slowdown in the country’s economy.
"Obviously I can't predict the future, but our performance so far this quarter is reassuring. Additionally, I continue to believe China represents an unprecedented opportunity over the long term," Cook said.
But Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri said it may simply be too early for Apple to see the effects of the slowdown.
"I am concerned about a slowdown in Apple's demand from China and I think they haven't even seen the extent of it yet," Arcuri said.
A recent Gartner report found smartphone sales in China fell for the first time ever in the previous quarter, and the country’s smartphone market is widely believed to be close to saturation.
