Apple's Eighth Retail Store in Shanghai Expected to Open This Month

I wonder if it's because of something political, or if it's because Chinese phone manufacturers are pushing their hardware to the limit and adding bigger batteries, noticeably improved cameras each generation, greater AI features every few months, all while offering very competitive prices on really good hardware. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 is just an iPhone 14 with more megapixels, and the iPhone 14 was just the iPhone 13 with SOS functionality that most people forgot existed, and-

...nah, that's crazy talk. Clearly the drop in iPhone sales is because governments are up to some political shenanigans. Nothing to do with the lack of noticeable hardware improvements on Apple's part. :p

Anyways, I'm really looking forward to the iPhone 16, I heard the cameras are going to be vertical now ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/02/19/first-iphone-16-molds-vertical-camera-layout/')! If that's not amazing technological progress, I don't know what is. :apple:

The economy in china is bad. unemployment is high, like compared to the US historical highs. The govt statistics put it at 5.2%. The feeling among those that I talk to there is that its probably 5-6x that number in certain age demographics.

“Apple is currently grappling with a significant slump in demand for iPhone sales in the country”

When the CCP bans iPhones from being used as work phones, and users from bringing personal iPhones in to the gov workplace, there is a significant incentive not to have an iPhone at all.

The government influences the people, not the other way around.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-panel-chair-wider-chinese-iphone-ban-aims-quash-apples-market-access-2023-09-07/

Eight stores in a city seems a lot, but some people have no idea how massive Shanghai is. It has over three times the population of New York City. Over 26 million people. More than in Australia. And that is just the population of that actual city without its neighbours. If you take a twenty minute train ride from Shanghai, you will arrive in Suzhou, another city with over ten million people. Another 17 minutes further there is another city called "Wuxi" with six million people. I can recommend putting Shanghai on your bucket list, even if you think that China is evil. The city is so far ahead of Europe or the US.

Can't imagine what would happen to Apple stock if real trouble erupted between the PRC and the U.S.

it wouldn't be just Apple. It would be a complete economic meltdown the likes that no one has seen before.

Beautiful illustration!
I would love Apple to run a feature profiling the artists who create their artwork for promoting new stores.

Get that ChiCom paper while you can, Tim. Clock is ticking.