Cook: China will become Apple's biggest market

Apple currently runs 11 Apple Stores in the Greater China region along with a big number of distributors. The company will continue to expand and see the number of outlets in China surpass 25 in the near future, Cook told Sina News in an exclusive interview in Beijing during his visit on Thursday.
The company has been localizing the products in the Chinese market to cater to the needs of local customers, according to Cook, who added he was convinced China would become Apple's largest market in the future.
Cook said Apple launched new products belatedly in China as the approval procedures in the country take longer compared with others.
"We've been trying to coordinate with the approval process and tried to shorten the gap between the launch date in China with other countries as much as possible, which, has also become one of our primary task today," according to the CEO.
He also revealed his deep affection for the country, indicating he had been to China at least 20 times--his first visit being in 1996 before he joined Apple.
Cook said it was Steve Jobs' innovative idea on the iMac, which fascinated him and influenced his decision to join Apple.
He also denied Apple had hit a slump in innovating new products, adding the newly launched iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPad 4, Macbook Pro and iMac in 2012, had all been received warmly.
Cook pointed out he was satisfied with the achievements so far. He noted Apple was the only company that integrated software, hardware and services, and continually pushed up consumer expectations. However, the CEO added Apple had even higher expectations on future products.