SAN FRANCISCO — As stocks in the United States tumbled on Monday morning following another sell-off in China, Timothy D. Cook, the chief executive of Apple, took an unusual step to put investors at ease: He emailed Jim Cramer, the television host of CNBC's "Mad Money."
In the email, Mr. Cook said iPhone activations had accelerated recently, and that Apple's App Store in China had its best performance of the year in the last two weeks.
"I get updates on our performance in China every day, including this morning, and I can tell you that we have continued to experience strong growth for our business in China through J uly and August," Mr. Cook said in the email to Mr. Cramer. "Obviously I can't predict the future, but our performance so far this quarter is reassuring."
The email seemed to ease the minds of some investors. After falling sharply shortly after the markets opened, shares in Apple regained their losses. By midday, shares were about 1.2 percent higher
China has become an increasingly important market for Apple. The company's growth has slowed over the last few years in mature markets like the United States and parts of Europe, where the smartphone market has become saturated. China, however, remains a huge untapped market where plenty of people are still buying smartphones for the first time.
Apple has long laid the groundwork to reap big sales in China, and revenue growth from the region has steadily gained momentum. The company in late 2013 struck an important deal to sell iPhones through China Mobile, the world's largest phone carrier. Apple is also expanding its operations in the region, planning to increase its number of stores to 40 by mid-2016.
Source: Tim Cook of Apple Seeks to Quell China Fears in Email to Jim Cramer
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