During his recent visit to France this past weekend, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave an interview to the French newspaper Le Figaro. In it, Cook reviewed a wide variety of topics, including Apple's interest in buildings of the Champs Elysees, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and taxes.
As noted in MacGeneration, when asked about Apple's interest in the construction of a new point of sale in the Champs Elysees, Cook did not finish confirming the company's plans, but he pointed to the existence of A possible interest. "As for the space on the Champs Elysees that you mentioned, work continues to see what we can do with it."
Tim Cook also referred to his love for France completely: “France has always had a special place for Apple. This is the best place to discover and dialogue with all the musicians, graphic designers, designers or photographers who use our products. There is great creative energy here. ” The statement of the CEO of Apple seems to imply that, although the company obtained ownership of the building, it has not yet decided whether to build a sales space or dedicate it to offices. Other previous reports suggested that the company wanted to do both and an Apple store is what would make the most sense given the commercial nature of that area.
How could it be otherwise, Donald Trump made an appearance in the interview. The new president of the United States insists again and again to penalize with tariffs and taxes to companies that sell in American territory but do not manufacture there. The theme of the same focused on the production of Apple products amid pressures to the company to join some of them in the United States. Cook explained, however, that an important issue is often not taken into account when discussing the location of factories, which is where the pieces come from: “In these debates about the location of factories , there is too much tendency to focus on the place where the product is assembled. When you open the product and look at the different components, you will see that everyone is represented. We have 4600 suppliers in Europe and we have already spent 11 million dollars on the continent. ”
Cook also referred to the Apple tax battle that takes place in Ireland. He did it again indicating that Apple pays "more taxes than any other company in the world." “We pay more taxes than any other company in the world. We do not evade taxes. In our opinion, the law is clear. We have to pay taxes in the place where we create value. ”
Last but not least, Cook referred to augmented reality and artificial intelligence, two areas he has praised several times in other interviews. Cook first observed that an artificial intelligence technology like Siri "makes the iPhone even better." As for the drop in iPhone sales, Cook pointed to the PC as an example of an industry that declined and subsequently recovered as technology advanced and predicted the same trend for smartphones. “Look what happened with the PC. If you return in the 1990s and early 2000s, you will see that sales fell a little before starting to grow again. The smartphone will have the same pattern. Innovative products always make a difference. ”
During his stay in France, Tim Cook made surprise appearances at several Apple outlets. Cook met with designer Julien Fournié, the founders of VizEat, Camilla and Jean-Michel, visited Apple's facilities in Marché Saint-Germain and met with artist JR. Cook also sat down to eat with the media company Konbini.
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