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Apple CEO Tim Cook visits factory of major Chinese supplier Luxshare amid preparations for the assembly of its Vision Pro headset
- Luxshare serves as the main assembler of Apple’s new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, which is expected to be launched early next year
- In his second visit to China this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed his excitement about the work on the mainland related to the Vision Pro
Apple chief executive Tim Cook’s latest trip to China has included a low-key visit to manufacturing facilities run by Luxshare Precision Industry Co, as the US technology giant closely monitors the progress of its supply chain for the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.
Cook was spotted on Wednesday morning in a tour of a factory owned by Luxshare – a major Apple AirPods supplier that has also won iPhone 15 orders and was named as an assembler of the Vision Pro – in the northern part of eastern Zhejiang province, according to a report by state-owned Shanghai Securities News. Some photos from this visit were posted on Cook’s own account on microblogging service Weibo.
China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao on Wednesday also met Cook in Beijing, where he assured the US executive that multinational companies like Apple continue to be welcome in the country, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.
That followed reports of Cook’s visit last week to an Apple Store in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, where he expressed his excitement to reporters about the work done by Chinese-based developers on apps for the Vision Pro, Apple’s first major new product in a decade.
Unveiled in June, the Vision Pro is a “spatial computing” device that changes the way users interact with their favourite apps, capture images, enjoy television shows and films, and connect with others via FaceTime. The headset is expected to go on sale in the US early next year, priced at US$3,499.
The tour of Luxshare’s factory appears to show Apple’s fresh vote of confidence in mainland China’s manufacturing supply chain amid recent efforts by the company’s various suppliers to diversify assembly work in countries like India and Vietnam.
Cook’s factory visit comes a few weeks after state-run media outlet China Daily reported that Luxshare was already preparing for assembly work on the Vision Pro.
Neither Apple nor Luxshare, also known by its trade name Luxshare-ICT, responded to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Shenzhen-based Luxshare’s deal as assembler for the Vision Pro marked the first time that Apple has enlisted a mainland Chinese supplier to build a “first-generation” product, according to Counterpoint Research analyst Ivan Lam, who was cited in a February report by the South China Morning Post.
An analysis by consultancy Wellsenn XR, which tracks the augmented reality and virtual reality sectors in China, showed that Luxshare will serve as the Vision Pro’s assembler, while at least six other suppliers – including Foxconn Technology Group – will be involved in making components for the device.
Mainland Chinese and Taiwan-based firms made up more than half of the total number of suppliers involved in the Vision Pro’s production, which also included South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics and Japan’s Sony Corp.
Apple had also entrusted Luxshare with the assembly of more iPhones after tapping the Chinese firm late last year to produce a small number of iPhone 14 Pro Max models at its factory in Kunshan, a city in eastern Jiangsu province, as a Covid-19 outbreak and employee exodus disrupted assembly work at Foxconn’s factory in Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province.
Luxshare was co-founded in 2004 by Grace Wang Laichun, who hails from Shantou city in southern Guangdong province. After 10 years working at the assembly line for cable connectors at Foxconn on the mainland, Wang left the firm and established Luxshare with her brother.
While Luxshare has not announced plans to set up production outside China, Apple’s other major contract manufacturers, such as Foxconn, have stepped up investment in new facilities in other parts of Asia.
Apple’s iPhone output from India, for example, could expand to 23 per cent by the end of 2025 from about 6 per cent last year, according to Canalys analyst Chiew Le Xuan.
Made-in-India iPhone shipments reached 12 million units in the first half of this year, up from 3 million in the same period in 2022, according to data from Counterpoint Research.
Although India’s production efficiency and domestic smartphone demand have risen rapidly, it will take another decade to challenge China in terms of electronics contract manufacturing work for Apple, according to Taru Pathack, a research director at Counterpoint based in the South Asian country.
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