This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Apple (AAPL, Financials) is putting money into companies on both sides of the Pacific. The New York Times says that CEO Tim Cook has promised to invest more money in China, even while the business is getting ready to spend another $100 billion to grow its operations in the U.S.
This move shows a problem that Apple has faced before: preserving strong commercial relationships in China, its major manufacturing base, while also answering calls to develop more at home.
Cook’s recent comments in Beijing made it clear how crucial China is to Apple. The country is remains the hub of its production network and one of its biggest markets. But just a few weeks ago, he made a similar pledge in the U.S., claiming that Apple would expand its production in the U.S. and make supply chains stronger. The business is trying to do both: keep close to Chinese partners and put a lot of money into factories, chip design, and clean energy projects in the U.S. It’s a balancing act that shows how things have changed for big IT companies that have to deal with two strong economies. Apple has previously moved some of its production to India and Vietnam, but Cook has made it plain that China is not being displaced; it is being added to. In the past, he has declared, “China will always be an important part of who we are.”
