Tim Cook 在过去15年里为苹果在中国的经营建立了成熟框架，2011年就任CEO前他就已频繁访问中国并主导全球供应链建设。作为前COO，他帮助建立大规模制造网络；每年约有数十万名外来务工者为全球市场组装 iPhone 与 MacBook，基薪约为每月150美元（约合人民币1080元）。2010年夏季，面对Foxconn连续自杀风波引发的舆情危机，他赴深圳进行危机处置；到2017年他公开表示，中国对苹果吸引力已不再只是低成本，而是供应链生态规模和工程人才深度的优势。
与其许多企业高管不同（如 Elon Musk、Jensen Huang、Bernard Arnault、David Solomon），Cook 与普通民众互动更频繁，也更具可接近性：他在街头与路人交流、与视频创作者互动，同时维持与部长、国企高管和地方新兴政治人物的关系。对北京而言，苹果在华生产既有经济性，也有政治示范意义，向印度等替代制造基地传递信号。2022年疫情封控期间，尽管全国多数地区交通几乎停滞，地方部门仍安排工人乘车往返Foxconn校区以维持 iPhone 产线，但高强度防疫也引发工人与执法部门的冲突。
在任内，苹果越来越灵活地回应北京需求。企业陆续把部分产能转向印度和越南，但并非脱钩：据报道，上年印度约占全球 iPhone 产量四分之一，即约25%。同时，苹果将中国大陆 iCloud 的主要运维交由一家国有背景数据公司管理，导致大陆账户对 Apple TV 等服务及部分应用下载出现无法使用或受限。此模式可能延续到 John Ternus 时代，核心经验是：对监管部门表现出顺应度，同时对公众保持友好，可在高度敏感政治环境中保住可持续运营空间。
Tim Cook has spent the past 15 years building a playbook for China, even before he became Apple’s CEO in 2011. As COO, he repeatedly visited China and helped build a broad manufacturing network; each year hundreds of thousands of migrant workers assembled iPhones and MacBooks for global demand, at a base pay of about $150 per month. In summer 2010 he flew to Shenzhen during the Foxconn suicide crisis to manage a major reputational scandal. By 2017 he publicly said China was no longer valued mainly for low cost, but for the scale of its supply-chain ecosystem and depth of engineering talent.
He also cultivated a people-facing presence and dense official ties that many peers lacked. Unlike other frequent China visitors such as Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Bernard Arnault, and David Solomon, Cook positioned himself as both visible and approachable while sustaining links with ministers, state enterprises, and regional leaders through forums, Beijing summits, and university advisory roles. This political capital proved useful. During 2022’s lockdowns, local governments bused workers to Foxconn to keep iPhone lines running even as movement slowed sharply nationwide, while confrontations still erupted between workers and authorities.
Apple increasingly showed flexibility toward Beijing. It moved part of production to India and Vietnam, yet in India China moved only part of the burden; China still remained central, and in the last year India accounted for roughly a quarter of global iPhone output (about 25%). Apple also ceded mainland China iCloud operations to a state-backed data firm, resulting in limited service access for China-registered accounts, including Apple TV and certain app downloads. The pattern suggests continuity under John Ternus: diplomatic compliance with regulators and public friendliness in China can secure operating space in a politically sensitive market.