Photo provided by the event organizer to NBD

Dec. 7 (NBD) -- It's technologies and skilled workers, rather than cost, that lured Apple to China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Wednesday when asked why Apple outsources a lot of its manufacturing to Chinese OEMs at the Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou, China.

Tim Cook, speaking for the first time at a Fortune conference, gave a lively review of Apple's business in China, and reflected on the change he has seen in China since he started visiting regularly 25 years ago.

Apple posted revenue of 45.4 billion U.S. dollars and net profit of 8.7 billion U.S. dollars for the third quarter of 2017 fiscal year, and both of the metrics have beat estimates. However, it only took up 15 percent of China's smartphone market, which means the remaining 85 percent is taken by other producers. Competition is fierce there, but Cook reiterated that Apple is focused on making the best, not the most.

We want to woo customers to buy our products so that our company will grow and prosper, said Cook. He also acknowledged that Wechat is a very important app for Chinese users, no matter what kind of system a phone is based on. iPhone enables users to fully retain Wechat chat history when switching between an Android-based phone and an iPhone, he explained.

Apple now has around 2 million developers using its platform in China, Cook said. China highly values the development of innovative apps, and ranks top around the world in terms of the number of startups.

China is marching into the advanced manufacturing industry, and craftsmanship has already been shown in computer and robotic science. This is crucial for Apple, as refinement and superior quality is what his company needs, Cook noted. 

He spoke highly of Chinese OEMs and workers. Taking AirPods supplier LUXSHARE-ICT and a Guangzhou-based front camera supplier for example, he said that they have sophisticated skills and expertise as well as a high level of professionalism.  

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn