In this article
Tim Cook touched down in Chengdu, China, this week for an Apple Store event tied to the company’s 50th anniversary, a carefully choreographed visit that comes at a pivotal moment in the iPhone maker’s complicated relationship with the world’s largest smartphone market.
Tensions between U.S. and China have been ratcheting up, in part due to the Iran war and and the U.S. announcing a new investigation into Chinese trade practices after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s biggest tariffs, which included major levies on imports from China.
But China has remained a critical market for Apple even as the company navigates increasing geopolitical challenges and mounting antitrust pressure there. Days before Cook’s visit, Apple cut its mainland China App Store commission from 30% to 25% on in-app purchases and paid transactions, effective March 15. Apple also reduced fees for smaller developers and mini-app partners to 12% from 15%. In a memo last week, the company attributed the changes to “discussions with the Chinese regulator.”
Those aren’t the only concessions China wants from Apple.
