Over the past several years, tech giant Apple (AAPL +1.18%) has doubled down on China to be one of its key growth engines.
Source: Apple
For the first time in a while, Apple experienced less-than-outstanding results from China in the second half of its calendar year in 2013. In Apple's fiscal third quarter, it saw sales from this key region decline on a year-over-year basis. Apple managed to recover in the fourth quarter, although the growth figures the company posted from China were lower than in many past quarters.
As Apple turns the page to a new fiscal year, it once again has big plans for China, including several opportunities to grow its sales. For starters, Apple plans to open several new Apple Stores in China. However, perhaps more importantly, the company also plans to double down on its growing network of outlets and third-party distributors, which should enable Apple to tap into the largely overlooked rural consumers.
Beyond that, there's also always hope for Apple to strike a deal with China Mobile (CHL +0.00%). And although no one disputes how significant a deal between Apple and China Mobile would be, it's also hard to say when such a deal might actually be struck.
In this video, tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner looks at Apple plans for China next year in greater detail.
