Apple plans two more Chinese research hubs to boost iPhone sales

All four centres will open later this year, the company said in a statement on its Chinese website

Apple has revealed plans to set up two more research centres and boost investment in China, a pivotal market in which the iPhone has been rapidly elbowed aside by local rivals.

The announcement comes as Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook undertakes his latest trip to a country that ranks as Apple’s single biggest overseas market. Apple said it plans to build new research facilities in the eastern Chinese cities of Shanghai and Suzhou, on top of centres already slated for Beijing and the southern city of Shenzhen. It also pledged to spend at least 3.5 billion yuan ($507 million) on research