Tim Cook on China after revenue forecast slashed

ARis Oikonomou | AFP | Getty Images

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, speaks in Brussels, on October 24, 2018.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has blamed an economic slowdown in China, and the Sino-U.S. trade war, for its downgrade to its first-quarter sales guidance.

That marks a dramatic change in tune from the leader of the tech giant who just under a year ago, during Apple’s earnings for the first quarter of 2018, said “everywhere I look, I feel really good about how we’re doing in China.”

In a letter to investors on Wednesday, Cook said the company forecast lower-than-expected sales primarily in China.

“While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China,” he said in a letter to investors.

“In fact, most of our revenue shortfall to our guidance, and over 100 percent of our year-over-year worldwide revenue decline, occurred in Greater China across iPhone, Mac and iPad,” Cook said, detailing how China’s slowing economy had been impacted by trade tensions which had affected consumers of Apple products in the region.

While Cook signaled a continued commitment to China, saying that “despite these challenges, we believe that our business in China has a bright future” his comments mark a change in Apple’s perspective on China, a country that the CEO had been positive about throughout 2018 despite trade tensions.

CNBC has collated a selection of Tim Cook’s recent comments on Apple’s earnings in China over the last year and his thoughts on the trade war and tariffs.