Apple opened research centre in China due to increased competition from Huawei
The American giant has launched a large applied research centre outside the United States against the background of increased competition with the Chinese company Huawei, TASS reports
According to the South China Morning Post newspaper, Apple has opened an applied research laboratory in Shenzhen that will boost its testing and research capabilities of its major products, including the iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro mixed-reality headset. The facility – that will become Apple’s tech hub in the Greater Bay Area – spans 20,000m2 and will employ over a thousand people.
Vice President and Managing Director of Apple Greater China Isabel Ge Mahe told the China Daily newspaper that by the end of Q1 2024, the company had invested $139m in the construction of this lab.
In August, for the first time in 46 months, Huawei overtook Apple in smartphone sales in China, taking a leading position in the market. In August 2024, foreign smartphone shipments, including iPhones, fell by 12.7 percent year-on-year to 1.87 million units (from 2.14 million in the same period a year earlier). The volume of smartphone shipments from Chinese manufacturers rose by 26.7 percent, reaching 24.05 million units.
