{"id":901735,"date":"2026-04-27T03:17:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/john-ternus-apples-new-ceo-inherits-a-rebounding-china-business-and-some-messy-headaches\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T03:17:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:17:51","slug":"john-ternus-apples-new-ceo-inherits-a-rebounding-china-business-and-some-messy-headaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/27\/john-ternus-apples-new-ceo-inherits-a-rebounding-china-business-and-some-messy-headaches\/","title":{"rendered":"John Ternus, Apple\u2019s new CEO, inherits a rebounding China business\u2014and some messy headaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Ternus, Apple\u2019s senior vice president of hardware engineering, takes over as CEO<\/a> on Sept. 1, ending Tim Cook\u2019s 15-year tenure at the top of the world\u2019s most valuable consumer technology company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Apple\u2019s presence with China is perhaps the defining relationship of the Tim Cook era. Chinese factories, managed by Global 500 companies like Foxconn and Luxshare, made the iPhones<\/a> that turned the company into a global juggernaut. Chinese consumers also snapped up Apple products, making the country one of Apple\u2019s most important markets. Cook was also a frequent visitor<\/a> to Beijing, meeting senior officials and dropping by Apple stores and major partners throughout the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a Chinese proverb I love: \u2018A single tree does not make a forest,\u2019\u201d Cook said earlier this year at the China Development Forum, a summit organized by Beijing. \u201cTogether, I believe we can plant that forest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/p>

Apple\u2019s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook attends the China Development Forum in Beijing on March 24, 2024.<\/figcaption>

Pedro Pardo\u2014AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s not clear how much experience Cook\u2019s successor has with China. Apple\u2019s statement<\/a> announcing his appointment doesn\u2019t mention any specific global market, let alone China. In fact, the only mention of global markets is attached to Cook\u2019s new role as executive chairman, which will include \u201cengaging with policymakers around the world.\u201d Ternus\u2019s extremely sparse Linkedin page doesn\u2019t mention China.<\/p>\n

Ternus inherits a China business that\u2019s turned a corner from a tricky few years, yet still brings significant headaches, from a protectionist Washington and a prickly Beijing to a Chinese consumer who has grown less reflexively loyal to Western brands.<\/p>\n

Why China matters to Apple<\/strong><\/h2>\n

China is home to much of Apple\u2019s supply chain, a decision that\u2019s primarily due to Cook, who met Terry Gou, the founder of Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, in 2000<\/a>. That started a decades-long partnership where Foxconn (and other original equipment manufacturers) would assemble iPhones in massive factory compounds, including the famed Zhengzhou complex deemed \u201ciPhone City.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/p>

Employees during lunch hours at a Foxconn Technology Group\u00a0plant in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2023. <\/figcaption>

Qilai Shen\u2014Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Yet disruptions during the COVID pandemic, when China\u2019s strict lockdowns threatened iPhone supplies<\/a>, prompted Cook to diversify production to alternate manufacturing bases in India<\/a> and Vietnam<\/a>. U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s trade war with China<\/a> accelerated those plans, with Cook even promising<\/a> to build servers and Mac mini computers in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupply chain execution will be the defining early test of Apple\u2019s next CEO,\u201d says Nabila Popal, a senior director of the data and analytics team at International Data Corporation (IDC), a market research firm. \u201cThe success of Ternus\u2019 tenure may hinge on whether he can advance Apple\u2019s China\u2011plus\u2011one strategy without triggering political or commercial backlash in China, and maintain the momentum and share in a market Apple cannot afford to fall back on.\u201d<\/p>\n

A big consumer market<\/h2>\n

Greater China\u2014a catch-all term that includes mainland China, Hong Kong and the island of Taiwan\u2014contributed $64.3 billion in revenue<\/a> for Apple in its 2025 fiscal year, which ended on Sep. 27. That was a slight drop from the previous fiscal year, but still enough to make it Apple\u2019s third-largest market. Put another way: Apple generates about as much revenue from China as Boeing\u2019s entire worldwide business.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s China sales have slipped<\/a> for the past three years, as the company faced greater competition<\/a> from domestic brands like Huawei<\/a> and Xiaomi<\/a>. Beijing also ordered<\/a> state-owned enterprises and government departments to stop using iPhones and other Apple devices at work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luckily, the iPhone 17 has helped turn around Apple\u2019s fortunes. Greater China sales rose to $25 billion in Apple\u2019s most recent quarter<\/a>, up from $18.5 billion a year earlier. Cook called it \u201cthe best iPhone quarter in history in Greater China\u201d in an earnings call<\/a> with analysts.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>

Shoppers pass an advertisement for the iPhone 17 Pro in the Xintiandi area in Shanghai, China, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026.<\/figcaption>

Qilai Shen\u2014Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

IDC data for the first quarter of 2026 put Apple as the No. 2 smartphone seller<\/a> in China, with a 19% market share. That\u2019s an improvement from a year earlier, when Apple was stuck in fourth place, behind Huawei, Oppo and Vivo.<\/p>\n

\u201cApple\u2019s remarkable turnaround in China is due to the incredible success of the iPhone 17,\u201d Popal says. New hardware helped, but even the phone\u2019s new orange color\u2014nicknamed \u201cHerm\u00e8s Orange\u201d by Chinese consumers\u2014won back Chinese consumers. \u201cSuch simple design changes that help scream \u201cI have the latest iPhone\u201d go a long way to boost demand, especially in a brand conscious market like China,\u201d Popal adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The memory crisis is also giving Apple an edge over its Chinese counterparts. As AI companies and device makers compete for limited supplies from a handful of chip manufacturers, Apple\u2019s financial firepower allows it to outspend rivals, \u201ca luxury many other Chinese players do not have,\u201d Popal points out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Media reports claim that Apple is set to introduce its first foldable iPhone<\/a> later this year. Foldables are quickly becoming mainstream devices in China, fuelled by improvements in thinness and durability, as well as consumer behavior that prizes the larger screen to watch videos and do work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

IDC\u2019s Popal thinks the release will \u201chelp push Apple into a category it previously entirely conceded to the competition, and give Huawei\u2014the leader in foldables globally and in China\u2014a run for its money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chinese innovation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Apple Intelligence, Apple\u2019s AI service, still isn\u2019t available in China. Beijing requires AI tools to be approved by the Cyberspace Administration of China. Apple has struck deals with Chinese tech companies like Baidu and Alibaba to help convince Chinese regulators, to no avail.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In contrast, Chinese phone makers are racing to embed AI into their products. ZTE unveiled a prototype<\/a> in December that used ByteDance\u2019s Doubao AI to boot and launch applications by voice command. Honor is releasing a \u201crobot phone<\/a>\u201d with a gimbal camera designed for active user interaction.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>

Lei Jun, Chairman and CEO of Chinese electronics company Xiaomi, stands next to the Xiaomi\u2019s electric car YU7 at the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing on April 24, 2026. <\/figcaption>

Jade Gao\u2014AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

One of Apple\u2019s Chinese competitors was also able to do something the U.S. company couldn\u2019t pull off: Make a car. Apple studied the car market for the better part of a decade before abandoning the project over profitability concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Xiaomi, led by Steve Jobs-fan Lei Jun, stuck with its EV plans<\/a>, releasing its first car in 2024. The Chinese company\u2019s cars have become a huge success among Chinese customers, delivering half a million cars since the launch. (Ford CEO Jim Farley is also a fan<\/a>). Xiaomi\u2019s EV success is now reverberating back to its phones, as Chinese consumers see it as proof of the company\u2019s innovation bona fides.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Nicholas Gordon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Ternus, Apple\u2019s senior vice president of hardware engineering, takes over as CEO on Sept. 1, ending Tim Cook\u2019s 15-year tenure at the top of the world\u2019s most valuable consumer technology company.\u00a0 Apple\u2019s presence with China is perhaps the defining relationship of the Tim Cook era. Chinese factories, managed by Global 500 companies like Foxconn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":901736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270,149120],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-901735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-apples","8":"category-ternus"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}