Apple Inc. said on Thursday it has invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, a move that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said would help the company better understand the critical Chinese market.
The tech giant’s rare investment gives it a stake in two burgeoning waves of technology – the sharing economy and car technology – as the iPhone business that propelled it to record profitability shows signs of maturing.
Julia Love
After regularly watching House of Cards for the past month, I can’t help but think this is some kind of political deal to appease the Chinese leadership and allow Apple to continue doing business in China.
Didi Chuxing executives have met with some of China’s top leaders, including President Xi Jinping last December.
Jean Liu, Didi’s president, is the daughter of Liu Chuanzhi, the politically connected founder of Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd.
There’s a lot of things we can work on together, she said when asked whether Didi Chuxing would help Apple’s government relations in China.
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