Apple Inc. (AAPL): Tim Cook in China, and a Smaller iPhone?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been pretty strong in its efforts and words to get a foothold in the largest emerging market for mobile wireless devices, and another way that it shows how serious it is is when CEO Tim Cook goes to that emerging market twice in less than a year. And Apple has also shown that it is serious about making devices that can fit into any budget – and perhaps, any size of pocket, too.

It seems that as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) gets bigger as a company, its devices are tending to get smaller.

A couple of noteworthy items crossed our desk this morning in regards to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which began Tuesday trading with its stock at %523.90 per share. The first has to do with the passport of CEO Cook, who has “China” stamped across it for the second time in 10 months as he landed there this week for another visit to the country where his company’s number of retail stores has nearly doubled since his last visit in March. Cook met with China’s minister of industry and information technology to check on the progress of IT in the country and keep tabs on Apple’s 11 retail stores in China and Hong Kong, which is up from six stores just last spring.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) spokeswoman Carolyn Wu said there was no information on how long Cook would be in China or if there were any meetings with other government officials planned for the trip. However, this showing seems to confirm Cook’s prior assessments of making improved investments in the country to try to attain more market share in one of the most vibrant emerging markets in the world.

The other note comes from the future. As Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to build in the present, it seems to be working on a new device that can make the logo smaller while the company grows. Has your ear gotten smaller? What about your pockets? Would you use a device that is smaller than even an older iPhone?