| 1 | Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) China business experienced "strong growth" in July and August, Chief Executive Tim Cook told CNBC on Monday. |
| 2 | Cook said, in an emailed response to questions about the company's business in China, iPhone activations in China had accelerated over the past few weeks and the App Store in China had the best performance of year for over the past two weeks. |
| 3 | Cook's comments come amid concerns about the economic growth in China, which is Apple's second-biggest market and a key growth region for the company. |
| 4 | A slump in China's stock market and Beijing's move last week to devalue the yuan have led to investor worries that Apple's growth in the country could be affected. |
| 5 | Apple's shares fell as much as 13 percent to a year-low of $92 in early trading on Monday, wiping out nearly $80 billion of its market value. |
| 6 | The broader U.S. market also fell sharply. |
| 7 | Apple's shares later recovered to trade at $101.16, down 4.3 percent. |
| 8 | "I continue to believe China represents an unprecedented opportunity over the long term as LTE penetration is very low and most importantly the growth of the middle class over the next several years will be huge," Cook said in the email. |
| 9 | Smartphone sales in China, the world's biggest market for the devices, fell in the second quarter for the first time, market research firm Gartner Inc (IT.N) said last week. |
| 10 | China's phone market is widely believed to be close to saturation with fewer first-time buyers. |
| 11 | Still, the market accounted for about 30 percent of the total smartphones sales during the second quarter, according to Gartner. |