Tim Cook goes live on Weibo, earning over 100,000 more followers in half an hour. (Photo : Reuters)
The Weibo account of Tim Cook, CEO of tech veteran Apple, Inc., went live on Monday, not only verifying the account but also gaining over a hundred thousand followers within 30 minutes.
Using an iPhone 6, Cook sent the message: "Hello China! Happy to be back in Beijing, announcing innovative new environmental programs."
The post was followed by a Chinese translation with the help apparently of a bilingual assistant.
In under an hour, Cook's Weibo post has already pulled in over 8,500 shares, 12,000 likes and 14,000 comments.
The appearance of Cook on the country's domestic social media platform comes after Lei Jun, founder of smartphone maker Xiaomi, posted a message, greeted Indian fans in English and hyped his social media presence by asking the audience, "Are you okay?"
Weibo is one of the leading social networking sites in China, boasting a nearly 200 million statistic of active users each month, luring prominent figures delve into this Web-based social portal.
Social media enthusiasts and speculators alike further wonder if Cook will also join the popular Chinese instant messaging app, WeChat.
Meanwhile, the environmental endeavor mentioned by Cook pertains to a joint venture with the World Wildlife Foundation, which focuses on managing up to a million acres of the country's forestland that harvest paper products.
In another Apple news, the U.S. tech firm was hailed by IDC as China's top smartphone seller of Q1 2015 in terms of shipments. According to the research firm, the boost was mainly driven by the strong demand for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
