Apple Backs AirPods Assembler Luxshare to Move into iPhone 12 Production Early

Luxshare, Apple's key assembler of AirPods, is reportedly attempting to break into iPhone manufacturing ahead of schedule, a move backed by Apple and aimed at challenging Taiwanese rival Foxconn's dominance in the ‌iPhone‌ supply chain.

LuxshareLogo 1
Earlier this year, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo mentioned the possibility of Luxshare pushing into the ‌iPhone‌ assembly business, starting with small-scale production of older iPhones and Apple Watch models. However, Nikkei today cites multiple sources claiming that Luxshare is already studying production of the new iPhone 12 mini at a Chinese plant that it is in the process of buying from Wistron.

The plant is in charge of roughly 20% of total orders for the iPhone 12 mini, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

"Luxshare is working with Wistron in making the latest iPhone 12 mini in Kunshan. [But] its pace for reaching a satisfactory production performance is slow. There's still a lot of room for Luxshare to learn," an executive-level source familiar with the situation said.

The move is said to be unusual because the purchase of the plant is not final, and Apple doesn't normally allow outside employees to visit suppliers' manufacturing sites, especially during the height of ‌iPhone‌ production season.

Luxshare bought Wistron's ‌iPhone‌ assembly plant in Kunshan, China, for $499 million in July to shore up its manufacturing links with Apple. Wistron has been an ‌iPhone‌ manufacturer itself since 2015, with plants in China and India, and Apple reportedly asked Wistron to share some of its ‌iPhone‌ production expertise with Luxshare as part of the deal.

Kuo previously said he believes Luxshare Precision will become a key ‌‌iPhone‌‌ case component supplier by the second half of 2021. The company is said to have a unique vertical integration advantage because it also provides many ‌‌iPhone‌‌ parts and accessories to Apple.

In related news reported earlier this week, Apple has suspended its partnership with Chinese-based Pegatron after it discovered that the major ‌iPhone‌ supplier was committing labor violations at a student workers' program. While Pegatron's current ‌‌iPhone‌‌ business is not expected to be affected, Bloomberg reported that it could lose some ‌iPhone‌ 12 orders to Luxshare next year.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
maxresdefault

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options...

Top Rated Comments

haunebu Avatar
61 months ago
Get out of China. There is no excuse to keep propping up the Chinese Communist Party's local economy.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
julianchan123 Avatar
61 months ago
Old Apple tactics of nurturing a competitor for its supplier. It can't help but continue the lick authoritarian communist China's for its filthy money.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dredlew Avatar
61 months ago
They don’t seem to have learned anything and happily continue production in China. ?‍♂️
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fjfjfjfj Avatar
61 months ago
I ordered an Apple Watch Edition this year, which is finally shipping this week, and I saw from the UPS tracking it was coming from “Luxshare.” I didn’t know what that was until this article.
I’m guessing Apple must be somewhat happy with Luxshare’s work if they are trusting them with models like the Apple Watch Edition?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
61 months ago
You don’t need a crystal ball to predict the inevitable. Foxconn doesn’t do Watch or AirPods assembly. And those are Apple’s highest growth businesses.

Inventec and Quanta used to be the sole assembler of AirPods and Watch. Now they’ve been excluded and replaced by Goertek and Luxshare.

This is clearly not about labor costs, rather engineering capabilities. Mainland Chinese companies have higher capabilities because they also supply components for the world’s largest smartphone brands like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi. And that expertise helped when Apple adopted 5G. As a result, Luxshare now makes the LCP anetnna for Apple.

In the end, this is a numbers game. Largest market in the world means the birth of the largest domestic suppliers. And with China having the largest economy in the world as acknowledged by the IMF, this momentum will only continue.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Whathappened Avatar
61 months ago

Old Apple tactics of nurturing a competitor for its supplier. It can't help but continue the lick authoritarian communist China's for its filthy money.
Just because they label it communism it is not necessarily communism.
Like the usa label themselves as a democracy.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)