Apple stands to gain in China immensely but Tim Cook is a big problem

Apple's China opportunities remain vast more than ever but the company may need to do something about Tim Cook. According to analysts, Apple has yet to maximise the potential of China's market, but part of its dwindling performance in other markets may have something to do with its chief executive officer.

The biggest threat to Apple's growth in China is the country's economic climate. Just recently, the Chinese economy has started slowing down, threatening the market appeal of Apple's US$650 (AU$916) phones. If the economy dives down further, consumer's purchasing power can dwindle and affect Apple's top and bottom lines.

Nonetheless, Chinese President Xi Jinping did say that the country's growth for the next five years should not go below 6.5 percent. This is already a significant improvement as opposed to developed countries; still, there are varying concerns on the country's performance, according to The Motley Fool. The World Bank sees the growth prospects as significantly lower compared to the 9.5 percent registered growth in the country in 2011. The succeeding years saw mid 7 percent figures for growth. This does not mean Apple has no room for growth. Apple has a runway for growth as revenues and markets stand to increase still. Kantar's recent numbers also support these claims.

However, Apple may need to work on its top man as Forbes' Jay Somaney suggest he is the company's main problem for growth.

"Tim Cook is not a Wall Street-friendly CEO and does not and cannot impress Wall Street. Jeff Bezos is a master at convincing Wall Street that his ‘build it and they will come’ is the way to go and analysts and shareholders have been absolutely lapping it up," Somaney wrote in his column. He compared Cook to other tech top mans like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

"The others under-promise and over-deliver aka UPOD while thus far Tim Cook has done the opposite-OPUD," he added. He argued that Cook might not be the best person to lead the biggest and one of the leading tech companies in the world.

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