CEO Tim Cook unexpectedly joins livestream to sell iPhone Air in China

(Dan Tri) - CEO Tim Cook was in Shanghai to prepare for the iPhone Air launch in the Chinese market. Here, he also participated in a livestream to introduce Apple products.

While the iPhone Air has been sold in major markets, in China, this phone has been delayed and it was not until this Friday (October 17) that users in China were allowed to pre-order the iPhone Air and it was not until next Wednesday that the new product was officially sold on the market.

This is because the iPhone Air is an eSIM-only smartphone and does not have a physical SIM slot. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has strict regulations for devices that only support eSIM.

Carriers and smartphone makers that want to offer eSIMs or phones without a physical SIM slot in this market must have special government licenses. Now, Apple and carriers in China have all the necessary licenses to sell the iPhone Air.

CEO Tim Cook personally traveled to China to prepare for the sale of the iPhone Air in the country, showing that China is still a very important market for Apple.

CEO Tim Cook participates in a livestream on Douyin to introduce the iPhone Air in the Chinese market (Photo: Weibo).

During his visit to China, CEO Tim Cook appeared in an Apple livestream on social media platform Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), announcing that the iPhone Air would be available for pre-order in China from October 17 and go on sale on October 22.

The iPhone Air will start at 7,999 yuan (equivalent to 29.5 million VND) in the Chinese market.

This is the first time CEO Tim Cook has appeared in a livestream on the Douyin platform, after Apple's Chinese branch officially joined Douyin's e-commerce site last August.

On Chinese social media platforms, the video of CEO Tim Cook livestreaming to promote the iPhone Air quickly went viral and created a trend online.

During his trip to China, CEO Tim Cook also spent time meeting customers at the Apple Store in Shanghai. He also had a conversation with Chinese singer Faye Wong about her latest music project, in which the video will be shot entirely on the iPhone 17 Pro.

This is the second time in 2025 alone and the fifth time in the past two years that the head of Apple has visited China, showing that CEO Tim Cook is looking for every way to boost iPhone sales in this billion-people market, in the context that Apple is facing strong competition from rivals from China.

After the iPhone Air became the first pure eSIM phone to be sold in China, domestic phone companies such as Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi... also plan to launch eSIM products in this country in the future.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/ceo-tim-cook-bat-ngo-tham-gia-livestream-ban-iphone-air-tai-trung-quoc-20251015155533024.htm