Companies
Apple R&D set for Shenzhen
Apple Inc will set up its second China research and development center in Shenzhen next year, to strengthen ties with local manufacturing partners, as the US tech giant struggles with mounting competition and declining smartphone sales.
The plan came shortly after it established a R&D center in Beijing, highlighting the importance of the China market, the world’s largest smartphone arena where Apple is losing ground to local brands such as Huawei and Oppo.
Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the plan for the new center on Tuesday during his visit to Shenzhen, the southern Chinese manufacturing powerhouse and innovation hub.
The Shenzhen center will help “our engineering team work even more closely and collaboratively with our manufacturing partner”, Apple said in an emailed statement to China Daily.
“Shenzhen is an incredibly vibrant city where we are proud to support over 200,000 jobs between advanced manufacturing and the growing (mobile) app economy,” the firm added.
The California-headquartered firm did not disclose the scale of its investment in the new venture.
Apple had set up its first China research and development center in Wangjing area of Beijing, with total investment to reach 300 million yuan ($44.6 million).
Jin Di, research manager at International Data Corp China, said unlike the Beijing center which focuses on partnership with universities, the Shenzhen unit will help Apple optimize its supply chain management.
“Shenzhen is home to Apple’s major manufacturing and distribution partners.
The new center can help it better localize products, especially when the industry is often suffering from shortage of components.”
According to Jin, the two R&D centers are likely to play an active role in designing Apple’s future iPhones and other hardware.
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