Apple CEO Tim Cook at a Luxshare plant
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Apple has reportedly chosen Luxshare as an additional manufacturer for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, easing its reliance on Foxconn.
Foxconn has long served as the major manufacturer to assemble iPhone Pro models, but recent troubles at its Zhengzhou facility has slowed iPhone 14 Pro production. Wednesday's report from Trendforce estimates that iPhone 14 shipments have fallen to 78.1 million units in 2022 due to the impact of COVID-19 at Foxconn's major iPhone factory.
To keep up iPhone production, it will be good for Apple to partner with more suppliers. For example, Luxshare already assembles AirPods for Apple, and won a contract in 2021 to build a portion of iPhone 13 models.
Luxshare has built a "mega-plant" in China for iPhone assembly. It has also leased and renovated a nearby plant previously owned by iPad assembler Compal.
Apple has been gradually moving production of its devices outside of China, and this move won't aid in that immediately.. The company reportedly plans to move some MacBook Pro production to Vietnam in 2023, after having shifted a portion of iPad manufacturing to the country in 2021.
India is also producing iPhones for Apple, starting with the iPhone 11 in 2020 and the iPhone 12 in 2021, followed by the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 in 2022.
