Luxshare becomes new iPhone contract manufacturer in China
The Chinese company Luxshare has succeeded in producing Apple AirPods, and its enterprises are located mainly in Vietnam. It has now become known that Taiwanese Wistron sold its iPhone venture in China to Luxshare for $ 472 million.
According to Bloomberg, the terms of the deal involve gaining control of two Wistron enterprises in eastern China. One of them specializes in the production of smartphones, laptops, and Apple wearables. Wistron reserves the right to release part of the range of Apple products in other regions of China, but it will not be able to produce the iPhone in the country after this transaction. Directly in Kunshan, Wistron has four factories, only one of them will come under the control of Wistron.
Before that, Wistron was the third and most modest iPhone contractor in terms of iPhone production, which had enterprises in China. The main production volumes of smartphones of this brand were provided by Foxconn and Pegatron. In India, Wistron will continue to produce low-cost iPhones for the local market. The deal between Luxshare and Wistron should be completed by the end of the year after all necessary approvals.
Earlier it was reported that Apple had intentions to strengthen Luxshare’s position as a contract manufacturer. The Cupertino-based company is trying to create an equal competitor from Luxshare for Foxconn in order to gain bargaining power and reduce dependence on a dominant supplier. Apple’s plans even included Luxshare’s assistance in acquiring Catcher Technology, the world’s second-largest electronics enclosure manufacturer. According to informed sources cited by the Nikkei Asian Review, negotiations with Catcher were discontinued in June due to price differences.
