Enterprise

Here’s why Apple failed in 2018, according to Tim Cook

Blames China, cheap battery replacements

Published

January 5, 2019

Luigi Leonardo

Image source: Apple.com

For most of the year, Apple’s 2018 was one of the most turbulent periods in the company’s recent history. Despite launching three new phones, Apple trudged through a flurry of controversies and feuds with other companies. The company is facing a whirlwind of legal battles in different fronts, including China and Germany. Now, as 2019 gears up for its go, Apple reflects on the ups and downs of 2018.

In a publicly available investor’s note, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared his thoughts on what led to a tumultuous 2018. Among others, he enumerated the company’s troubles in China, the cheapened battery replacement program, and the success of non-iPhone properties.

Of course, Apple’s difficulty in China is well documented. For one, the company is up against more popular Chinese brands like Xiaomi and Huawei. Apple is doing poorly in the country. “In fact, most of our revenue shortfall… occurred in Greater China across iPhone, Mac, and iPad,” Cook said. Besides that, the company’s older models are banned because of Qualcomm.

While China (and other emerging markets) caused most of Apple’s downfall, another sizable chunk comes from the lack of iPhone upgrades. Existing iPhone users have stopped upgrading to the latest models. According to Cook, “some customers [are] taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements.”

In 2017, the company ran into a planned obsolescence issue. Apple purposely slowed down its older models to supposedly promote upgrading. As a result, the company offered a cheaper battery replacement program to stave off obsolescence. Because of increasing prices, most consumers preferred new batteries over new phones. While the decision was right for consumers, Cook is now mulling over the plan’s side effects.

To Apple’s credit, the company is enjoying success outside of the iconic iPhone. Apple’s services, wearables, MacBook, and iPad offerings “grew almost 19 percent.” Their services, including aftermarket care, generated US$ 10.8 billion in revenue. Wearables grew by 50 percent. At the very least, Apple succeeded in other fronts.

With that, Cook remains hopeful for the company’s future. “Most importantly, we are confident and excited about our pipeline of future products and services,” he concluded.

Of course, Apple’s future depends on more than its head honcho’s high hopes. As 2019 begins, the company is still facing several battles elsewhere. Apple is still undergoing an arduous appeal process to reverse China’s decision to pull out the company’s products. The company’s stock crashed by 38 percent since October. The future is still a blurry mess for the company.

Apps

foodpanda relaunches cult-favorite roast chicken brand after 8 years of persistent search queries

Heritage chain Andok’s returns to the platform, driven entirely by long-term user analytics.

Published

June 19, 2026

MJ Jucutan

In the world of e-commerce and food delivery, platform algorithms usually dictate what consumers see. But occasionally, consumer behavior is so relentless that it shapes the platform’s strategy.

In a move driven entirely by long-term user analytics, foodpanda has officially relaunched Andok’s, one of the Philippines’ most iconic heritage rotisserie chains, back onto its platform after an eight-year absence.

The search bar as a digital wishlist

The decision to ink the partnership wasn’t just a marketing play. It was a response to an ongoing data anomaly. Despite being offline from the foodpanda platform for eight years, Andok’s consistently ranked as one of the most-searched merchants on the app.

Year after year, users treated the empty search results page as an unofficial wishlist. This persistent search intent gave foodpanda a clear, data-backed signal of pent-up demand.

Prior to the official digital rollout, teaser campaigns on social media validated this demand, generating thousands of organic interactions from users anticipating the return.

Bridging heritage flavor with digital infrastructure

For foodpanda, onboarding a merchant with this level of built-in demand fits its broader strategy of marketplace optimization and hyper-local network expansion, turning a heritage brand into another data point for how legacy retail plugs into delivery infrastructure.

For Andok’s, the integration works as a fast track to digital scale. A legacy quick-service chain skips years of independent app development and reaches customers already using foodpanda’s existing logistics network, on a platform they already check daily.

Andok’s built its following on charcoal spit-roasted chicken, a slow-cooked technique that’s stayed largely unchanged since the brand’s early days, alongside seasoned grilled pork belly.

More recently, the Dokito line extended that following into crispy fried chicken and chicken burgers, broadening the brand’s appeal beyond its original rotisserie format and giving foodpanda a menu with both heritage pull and everyday fast-food convenience.

Enterprise

Global Connect Show Shenzhen empowers Chinese enterprises

Opportune time for new Chinese enterprises to go global

Published

June 2, 2026

GadgetMatch

The Global Connect Show Shenzhen 2026 (GCS SZ 2026) was successfully held on June 1 at China’s innovation hub.

More than 100 Chinese enterprises joined the event, encouraged to expand into international markets.

The program focused on three core pillars:

Chinese brand going global
Global channel connection
Dedicated “Into the Enterprise” series

China has developed a new generation of internationally competitive companies across various sectors, including:

consumer electronics
smart hardware
artificial intelligence
robotics

As these companies enter a new phase of going global, demand is growing for global communications, brand building, market trust, and localized business networks.

As such, the Global Connect Show is one of the platforms to be able to strengthen the relationship across enterprises, partners, business associations, and even media and influencers.

It is a significant window for innovative brands to enter global retail channels by building compelling brand narratives and developing strong localized operations.

This year’s GCS is the third staging of the show, which consistently aims to match Chinese brands with partners through a results-first approach. Such an approach includes hands-on product experiences, presentations, and one-on-one meetings.

Enterprise

New US-China ban might affect 75% of phones, laptops

Companies can no longer use Chinese labs to test their products.

Published

May 5, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The United States is continuing its crusade against Chinese technology today. However, the target now isn’t a company from China but a method important to a lot of non-Chinese brands.

Today, via Reuters, the Federal Communications Commission (or FCC) has unanimously voted to prohibit companies from using Chinese labs to test their electronic devices if they are to be sold for use in the United States. Naturally, this includes smartphones and computers.

Notably, the prohibition doesn’t directly target Chinese brands. However, it will still affect a huge swath of the industry. The FCC estimates that around 75 percent of the entire market are devices tested in labs based in China.

This means that companies who wish to sell future products in the country must move their testing to labs in the United States or other countries that it deems secure. At its current iteration, the prohibition will not affect devices that already earned their certification prior. However, it might prevent them from getting recertified once their current one expires.

Now, the prohibition isn’t an absolute lock just yet. The FCC will allow the industry to submit comments about the proposal. But, with a unanimous vote from the FCC, companies might have to start looking for alternative testing sites if they want to stay operation in the United States.