Isabel Ge Mahe has been appointed by Apple as the managing director and vice president of the Greater China region. This comes as the Cupertino, California-based tech giant engages in efforts aimed at boosting the company’s business and brand in the world’s most populous country.

Wireless technologies                                   

Previously Ge Mahe served as the wireless technologies vice president at Apple where she was in charge of the engineering terms that were developing CarPlay, HomeKit, Apple Pay, motion and location technologies, NFC, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. In her new role, she will be in charge of Apple’s team that is based in China and will report directly to both the chief operating officer of the tech giant, Jeff Williams, and the chief executive officer, Tim Cook.

“Apple is strongly committed to invest and grow in China, and we are thrilled that Isabel will be bringing her experience and leadership to our China team,” read a statement from Cook.

Largest technology market

The appointment comes at a time when the largest technology market in the world is proving to be a challenge for Apple. Not only are the sales of iPhones struggling in China but the tech giant is coming under increased regulatory scrutiny. In the quarter that ended on March 31, 2017, revenues for Apple in the Greater China region fell by 14% compared to a similar period a year earlier. Sales of the iPhone notched up by one percentage point having recovered slightly from a year earlier.

Part of the challenge for Apple in China has to do with increased competition from local Chinese brands such as Huawei, Vivo and Oppo. Owing to the fact that these brands cater for all kinds of consumers with prices to suit almost every pocket, they have managed to eat away at Apple’s market share.

With regards to regulations, the problem in China has been lack of consistency. In 2016, for instance, Apple’s service business suffered when its iTunes Movies and iBooks services were shuttered. Days ago Apple announced that it was putting up a data center in the Asian country in order to achieve compliance with China’s strict cybersecurity laws.