Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook is working to broaden the company’s distribution in China as a way to reignite growth after the iPhone maker reported its first decline in annual profit in at least a decade. Cook said Apple is expanding how it sells the iPhone and iPad in China, focusing on areas outside the country’s largest cities. The firm is adding more outlets besides Apple stores to sell its devices, and the iPhone is now available in 50% more stores in the country than last year, he said. Apple’s sales in China rose 6% in the recent quarter to USD5.7 billion, making it the company’s second-biggest market after the U.S. Yet it lags behind Samsung Electronics and local manufacturers which offer cheaper smartphones and tablets with more design choices than the iPhone and iPad. China is critical as Apple seeks to jump-start sales and profit growth, which have stalled in the increasingly crowded mobile market. Devices running Google’s Android software dominate the mobile market in China. Worldwide, Android is expected to have 75% of the smartphone operating-system market this year, compared with the 17% share for Apple’s iOS software, IDC estimates.