Apple invests $1 billion in China’s Didi

Apple's massive funding contribution is the largest single investment Didi has received. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the company hopes to gain insight on the sometimes complex Chinese market, an area of great importance to future growth.

苹果的这项巨额投资是滴滴获得的最大一笔单体投资。据苹果CEO库克透露，尽管中国市场有时候很复杂，但是其对未来经济的增长有着不可比拟的重要性，因此苹果希望能够更多地参与到中国市场中去。

"We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," Cook said. "Of course, we believe it will deliver a strong return for our invested capital over time as well."

库克说："我们正在做的这项投资是基于一些战略原因的考虑，这个机会能够让我们对中国市场的某些领域有更多的了解。当然，我们也相信随着时间的推移，我们的投资决定将会带来巨大的回报。"

The announcement was also reported by The Information's Amir Efrati, who disclosed the development in a tweet earlier today.

The Information的阿米尔也报道了这一消息，她于今天早些时候在Tweet上发布了这一消息。

Didi currently offers a variety of transportation services in China, including taxi and private car hailing, designated drivers and peer-to-peer products like ride-sharing. In February, The Wall Street Journal reported the Chinese firm was looking to raise a total of $1 billion from investors in a bid to compete against global ride sharing technology powerhouse Uber. Whereas Uber dominates in established Western markets, Didi controls China, facilitating more than 11 million rides each day. That includes a more than 87 percent share of the private car hailing market. Both companies rely on apps as a main mode of connecting passengers with drivers.

滴滴目前在中国市场提供一系列运输服务，包括出租车和私家车打车服务，指定司机服务，以及拼车等。二月份，《华尔街日报》指出为和国际拼车科技巨头Uber竞争，滴滴正在寻求一笔总额达到10亿美元的投资。Uber在西方市场占据了主导地位，而滴滴则控制了中国市场，每天的业务成交量超过1100万。这一数据有超过87%的部分来自于私家车打车市场。Uber和滴滴都依赖手机软件，将其作为连接乘客和司机的的主要模式。

Despite the vote of confidence for an obvious automotive industry player, Cook kept mum on his own company's ambitions in the segment.

除了对滴滴这一明显的汽车行业企业充满自信的投资以外，库克领导下的苹果公司也对这一行业充满野心。

"That is what we do today in the car business, so we will have to see what the future holds," Cook said, referring to Apple's CarPlay infotainment platform.

库克援引苹果自己的CarPlay信息平台，说道："这是我们现在从事汽车行业的做法，所以我们必须看一看未来这个行业是个什么样子。"

Apple is widely rumored to be developing an ambitious automotive product some believe will result in a branded electric vehicle. Dubbed "Project Titan," the initiative is thought to be a significant undertaking based out of a top-secret facility in California. The most recent rumors claim Apple is looking for real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area suitable for an autonomous car lab and production plant.

之前就有传言说苹果将要研发一款野心勃勃的汽车产品，有些人认为将是一款品牌电动汽车。这个项目被称为"泰坦计划"，在加州绝密实验室进行研发，有着十分重要的意义。最新的传言称，苹果公司正在旧金山湾寻找合适的地方以作为汽车研发实验室和制造工厂。