It is the dominant American maker of smartphones, a household name to billions and for many makers of high-tech parts their most important customer ever.

Just don’t ask who it is.

In Asia, it’s surreptitiously referred to as “the fruit company” or sometimes “Fuji,” referring to the variety of the specific fruit in question that’s cultivated in Japan. Other descriptors include “the three-trillion-dollar company”—which slightly overstates its market value—“the honored North American customer” and simply “the big A.”