Luxshare Precision Industry is acquiring Wistron Corp.’s iPhone production business in China via a $472 million deal, potentially becoming the first mainland company to win a coveted role assembling Apple’s device during US trade tensions, reported Caixin.
Taiwan-based Wistron, one of just three contract manufacturers that assemble Apple’s iPhones, said Friday it has agreed to sell two subsidiaries in eastern China for RMB 3.3 billion to Luxshare. One of those units, based in the city of Kunshan, is Wistron’s sole iPhone manufacturing site, according to people familiar with the company’s business.
The deal is a win for Luxshare, which produces accessories and components from cables and chargers to antennas but is also the world’s biggest manufacturer of Apple’s AirPods — a lucrative business that helped the company become one of 2019’s top Asian stock performers. Apple in turn has sought a Chinese mainland partner in part to broaden local sources during a trade war.
“With the acquisition of the Wistron’s iPhone unit, Luxshare can now become an iPhone assembler,” GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu said. “This will first pose a threat to Pegatron’s iPhone business in China.” The deal is slated to be completed by year’s end pending regulatory approval, Wistron said in an emailed statement.
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