Alibaba won't solve all of Apple's China problems

APPLE'S CHINA BUSINESS kicked off the Year of the Snake inauspiciously. Revenue dropped 11% during the December quarter and iPhone sales plunged more than 18%.

- Catherine Thorbecke Bloomberg

The Trump administration unveiled fresh tariffs on goods from its biggest manufacturing base, and it's still unclear if the Cupertino, California-based company can get out of them this time around. Beijing, meanwhile, is reportedly mulling a probe into its app store fees and practices.

But it may have notched a much-needed win on Thursday: Alibaba Group Holding confirmed it would be working with the iPhone maker to finally bring Apple Intelligence to China. The Information previously reported that Apple and the e-commerce giant had submitted a proposal to regulators. The company has launched its much-hyped AI features in the US and other jurisdictions, but has been plagued by delays in finding a local partner in a market where demand for personal generative AI services is red hot.

Investors saw it as a major victory for Alibaba, sending its stock soaring on the initial report. Still, it's not clear if the long-awaited rollout of AI-enabled iPhones will be enough to turn things around for Apple in China.