Apple contract manufacturer Luxshare in drive to grow beyond consumer electronics amid potential global supply chain realignments

Luxshare co-founder and chairwoman Grace Wang Laichun said the company has ‘put a lot of emphasis on pushing into new markets’

The Shenzhen-based company expects to increase its business in the telecommunications and auto industries

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AirPods supplier Luxshare Precision Industry Co, also known as Luxshare-ICT, has expanded its electronics contract manufacturing relationship with Apple to include premium iPhone models. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00pm, 3 Feb 2023Updated: 7:11pm, 3 Feb 2023

Apple contract manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry Co is seeking to drive growth beyond consumer electronics, according to the Chinese firm’s co-founder, amid geopolitical and economic developments that could potentially speed up global supply chain realignments.

Luxshare co-founder and chairwoman Grace Wang Laichun, 56, on Thursday told an audience at a local chamber of commerce event that the Shenzhen-based company, which is also known as Luxshare-ICT, expects to increase its business in the telecommunications and auto industries.

“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on pushing into new markets,” Wang said. “A few years ago, we expanded into making electronic components for telecoms [products] and vehicles.”

Wang, who did not directly address Apple in her speech, said that Luxshare maintained fast growth last year, despite “complex economic situations domestically and globally”. Luxshare did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Luxshare Precision Industry Co chairwoman Grace Wang Laichun, far right, accompanies Apple chief executive Tim Cook, fourth from left, during his visit to the Chinese firm’s AirPods assembly line in Kunshan, a city in eastern Jiangsu province, on December 4, 2017. Photo: Handout

Luxshare, which is a major supplier of AirPods for Apple, was reportedly tapped by the US tech giant last year to assemble a small number of iPhone 14 Pro Max handsets at its manufacturing facility in Kunshan, a city in eastern Jiangsu province. Luxshare was also awarded orders for the iPhone 15 Pro models scheduled for release later this year, according to a report by Taiwanese tech research firm TrendForce.

That followed a series of Covid-19-related disruptions experienced last year by Foxconn Technology Group, Apple’s main iPhone supplier, at its production complex in Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province.

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