Apple has invested USD 1 billion in the Chinese ride-sharing service Didi Chuxing. The investment comes as Apple faces slowing sales of the iPhone and attempts to put a greater focus on services to grow revenue. China is also its second-largest market.
Didi operates a service similar to Uber and also counts as its investors Alibaba Group and Tencent. The Apple investment is part of a larger round of USD 2 billion in financing, which was expected to value to company at USD 25 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that he sees opportunities for Apple and Didi Chuxing to collaborate in the future. "We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," he said. "Of course, we believe it will deliver a strong return for our invested capital over time as well."
Didi Chuxing said in a statement that the funding from Apple was the single largest investment it has ever received. The company, which previously raised several billion dollars, dominates the ride-sharing market in China. The company said it completes more than 11 million rides a day, with more than 87 percent of the market for private car-hailing in China.
