Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Secretly' Signed $275 Billion Deal With China in 2016

[nt5672]

Wouldn't be a problem for me if he invested similar amounts in improving manufacturing in the United States. But he only does the bare minimum to get a headline here. Seems like he wants China to be more affluent than the US.

Of course that thought does not consider all of our politicians that have sold out the US and implemented laws and taxes that preclude US manufacturing by making the costs too high. But the counter thought is that our politicians are as much for sale as the Chinese, so it would in the end seem like Cook just has a preference for Chinese success.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

It's a long con. Apple invest money creating manufacturing and facilities that further pollute the already atrocious conditions in China and they eventually suffocate themselves as there's not enough quality air to help the overpopulated nation survive without the need for air purifiers.

 

[Dwalls90]

Did anyone actually read the article, meaning you subscribe to The Information? Do you really think Apple is the only company that has made multi-year deals with China or other countries? Various US companies make deals with states in similar fashions. I understand citizens want to put their country first, but none of this is news and is all too common in the world of big business.

Also can't help but laugh at how this "News Outlet" started:

"The company [The Information] held an international networking event 2016 in Beijing, where annual subscribers met with leaders from Asian companies such as electronics company Xiaomi, venture capital firm Shunwei Capital, and investment management firm Hillhouse Capital Group."

 

[smaffei]

And, as I have suggested in the past in these forums, Apple was pushing civil rights support here in the US as a smokescreen to cover its total capitulation to a regime the violates almost every basic human right on a daily basis.

 

[djcerla]

Forgot to add, rumor OR NOT, Congress will investigate this !

Why, exactly? What's stopping a US company in investing in China?

 

[smaffei]

Did anyone actually read the article, meaning you subscribe to The Information? Do you really think Apple is the only company that has made multi-year deals with China or other countries? Various US companies make deals with states in similar fashions. I understand citizens want to put their country first, but none of this is news and is all too common in the world of big business.

Also can't help but laugh at how this "News Outlet" started:

"The company [The Information] held an international networking event 2016 in Beijing, where annual subscribers met with leaders from Asian companies such as electronics company Xiaomi, venture capital firm Shunwei Capital, and investment management firm Hillhouse Capital Group."

Yes, but it appears that Apple is the biggest violator. And, the biggest always is the best target.

 

[mzeb]

Way to go Comrade! I hope China has an extra room for you to stay when you are up for treason.

Really? Treason implies that Apple did something with the intent to destroy the US here. Quite the opposite. This is American capitalism at its best. Apple, and Cook, identified a money making opportunity and took it. The goal of the business is to make money. This was a capitalist business doing what it is supposed to.
There is an argument that the US government should further regulate and more tightly control foreign business deals. The irony there is that government control of business is the definition of communism.
So we can call treason and become more communist ourselves by trying to control business or we can accept that capitalist business sometime doesn’t act in the interest of the US because that is not its goal.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Business is business. Nothing wrong with making business deals.

If lobbying was a crime, most if not all politicians would be in jail already.

 

[paulypants]

At first glance, I am not happy about this, and agree with every comment before mine, which have been overwhelmingly negative. If I thought that these investments would push China to a more open society and economy, it would be a different story, but the history of the CCP has taught us otherwise. All this tech crap about selling our data and fornicating with Communist, genocidal regimes makes me want to convert to a Luddite. I mean, are we at a point in the tech world where any advancement will inevitably put our economy and security at risk?

This is capitalism. This is what America is about. China is a huge market, rich with trillions of potential profits. Nothing more American than making money, no matter what it looks like.

 

[boss.king]

Business is business. Nothing wrong with making business deals.

If lobbying was a crime, most if not all politicians would be in jail already.

Just because it's not a crime doesn't mean it shouldn't be one.

 

[loby]

Humm...if I remember correctly isn't this kind of stuff considered "treason"? Oh...I think that definition has been rewritten too..

 

[aidler]

Did anyone actually read the article, meaning you subscribe to The Information? Do you really think Apple is the only company that has made multi-year deals with China or other countries? Various US companies make deals with states in similar fashions. I understand citizens want to put their country first, but none of this is news and is all too common in the world of big business.

Also can't help but laugh at how this "News Outlet" started:

"The company [The Information] held an international networking event 2016 in Beijing, where annual subscribers met with leaders from Asian companies such as electronics company Xiaomi, venture capital firm Shunwei Capital, and investment management firm Hillhouse Capital Group."

But Apple and especially Tim Cook are amongst the most outspoken proponents of human rights and equality in the US. Crazy right…

 

[hagjohn]

Probably a real good business move but a really really bad PR move, especially in US politics. This won't go over well with either Dems or GOP. I just keep thinking of all the causes Apple supports and how this blows a lot of them out of the water.

What happens when bribing China with money, knowledge and power doesn't work anymore?

 

[Nimrad]

"Secretly"? Isn't this how most business deals are made?

 

[Spock]

Disagree, Steve Jobs put a "Hands Off' Board in-place, & it's mostly the same people now as then !

It's detailed in the Walter Isaacson Steve Jobs bio.

Steve has been gone for 10 years, things aren't the same. And it would not be possible for Tim Cook to make a $275 billion dollar deal without them at least knowing. And if they had a "hands-off" board in place as you say, then how would they boot him out??

 

[GMShadow]

But Apple and especially Tim Cook are amongst the most outspoken proponents of human rights and equality in the US. Crazy right…

It's almost like the ones that protest too much tend to be covering for something...

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Just because it's not a crime doesn't mean it shouldn't be one.

When it becomes a crime, then we can criticize.

 

[thadoggfather]

Humm...if I remember correctly isn't this kind of stuff considered "treason"? Oh...I think that definition has been rewritten too..

Senatuh, treason is a nebulous term

 

[lederermc]

Humm...if I remember correctly isn't this kind of stuff considered "treason"? Oh...I think that definition has been rewritten too..

One can only conclude that virtually all manufacturers in the US has committed "treason".

 

[JMO1]

Come on Apple; you are better than this.

 

[LogicalApex]

Sick. I know this may be hypocritically from me since there is like no way to avoid anything "china" which is almost the point and sad truth but its kind of messed up how everyone is willing to just look the other way as long as you can do nice business with them. It sort of reminds me of Nazi Germany and how a lot of cooperations not only continued but were happy to do business with them until they started to hit allies.

In short: China managed to slowly make everyone their B... I mean relying on them. Just look what happens when China closes its harbours for a few weeks. MESS

What’s the classic critique of a capitalist?

The capitalists will sell us the rope with which to hang them.

The business community and capitalists will bend over backward to China without fail due to them looking squarely at the potential market size. Despite what they claim in the western democracies about how intense regulation and etc will force them out of business you’ll continue to see the truth on display in countries like China where they will take whatever taxes, regulations, and etc it requires to play in those markets.

This is why government regulation is so important. You can’t count on companies to do things in the best interest of anything other than their profits. Despite what they bestow in their marketing materials.

These same businesses will lose out heavily when the impending China US reckoning comes… That unattributed quote I shared earlier is clear on how we get there for them…

 

[hagjohn]

Why, exactly? What's stopping a US company in investing in China?

You would have to understand the politics in the US right now. There is a lot of people, on all sides of the political spectrum, that think big tech/social media companies have too much power. This will only add fuel to the fire that companies will need to be broken up. Big tech and social media had played big parts in swaying people (either way) in the past 2 election cycles and lot of people did not like that, especially politicians.

 

[BGPL]

The things people do for money. Steve Jobs liked money like anyone else, but it wasn't the driving factor, and that's the disparity between these two leaders.

 

[thadoggfather]

275 million iPhone Pros could be given to Americans gratis for the same price

 

[Dwalls90]

Here's a crazy thought: how about investing in the country in which your company is based out of?

Offensive, I know. Not feasible, I know. Ballsy to even mention... I know.

That's not how capitalism works, unfortunately.