Following Tuesday 's quarterly earnings report , Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the company is seeing " economic softness " in Greater China , which includes Shanghai and Hong Kong , and that the region can no longer be relied on to counter the broader slowdown in the global smartphone market . Bloomberg L.P. However , Cook remains optimistic about China and is committed to ongoing investment , including an increase in the number of stores from 28 to 40 by this summer . Demographic trends may support Apple 's upbeat outlook : about 80 % of people in the country still use older phones that run on 3 G networks , and the number of people considered middle class is expected to jump to 500 million by 2020 , from an estimated 50 million in 2010 .
Following Tuesday 's quarterly earnings report , Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that the company is seeing " economic softness " in Greater China , which includes Shanghai and Hong Kong , and that the region can no longer be relied on to counter the broader slowdown in the global smartphone market . However , Cook remains optimistic about China and is committed to ongoing investment , including an increase in the number of stores from 28 to 40 by this summer . Demographic trends may support Apple 's upbeat outlook : about 80 % of people in the country still use older phones that run on 3 G networks , and the number of people considered middle class is expected to jump to 500 million by 2020 , from an estimated 50 million in 2010 .