by Jason Snell
Tim Cook, at the center of US-China relations
The New York Times’s Jack Nicas and Paul Mozur have an interesting overview of the place Apple (and Apple CEO Tim Cook) hold in the relationship between the United States and China:
Under Mr. Cook’s leadership, Apple’s business in China grew from a fledgling success to an empire with annual revenues of around $50 billion — just a bit under a quarter of what the company takes in worldwide. He did this while China was tightening internet controls and shutting out other American tech giants.
Cook has said repeatedly that China is a key market for Apple, and his frequent appearances in China show that Apple cares very much about its relationship with the Chinese government. But as the article points out, Apple also stands to be one of the biggest targets in any a trade war between the U.S. and China.