Apple CEO Tim Cook to meet with Chinese government officials

Apple's latest financial results have revealed that the Cupertino company's grip on the Chinese market has been weakening due to local smartphone competition from Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and others. Additionally, well-known investor Carl Icahn recently sold millions in Apple stock without much of a warning ahead of the earnings call that showed iPhone sales dropped by 26 percent YoY in China during Q1 2016 (or FY Q2 2016).

Smartphones from China continue to rise due in part to cheaper prices and better price-to-performance ratios. Chinese companies are also publicly blasting Apple with the CEO of LeEco recently claiming that Apple is currently lacking in innovation. Additionally, the iPhone maker is facing legal disputes over another Chinese company over the term "iPhone" as the name is currently in use for leather products produced in the region. Apple's successful iTunes store is not currently available in many areas of the country as well.

According to Reuters, Tim Cook is set for an overseas trip to visit Chinese authorities and to hopefully agree upon conditions to reopen iTunes in the country. The Asian market is clearly an important source of revenue for Apple as a recent report showed that over 40 percent of smartphones shipped worldwide originated from China as of Q1 2016.

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