Apple tasks Luxshare with assembling its upcoming MR headset

Apple has reportedly chosen Luxshare Precision Industry Co to build its much-anticipated mixed-reality headset. According to a report released on Tuesday, the U.S tech giant has faced lapses concerning its MR headset after it dropped its assembly partner. Pegatron, a Taiwanese firm was first charged with the task of assembling Apple’s MR headset, but recently it has been removed as the company’s supply source. The report also shows that Apple instructed Pegatron to pass its mixed-reality headset manufacturing and assembly procedures to Luxshare, a Chinese mainland electronics firm.

Research has shown that Pegatron sold its production capacity to other regions of the world. It also sold its factory based in Shanghai to its mainland rival. The sell-off is unlikely to result in significant losses due to Apple’s large sales. Because Apple will produce a small number of headsets, this is not expected to affect Pegatron’s profit.  The news suggests that Apple will choose a Chinese firm over a Taiwanese firm to manufacture its products.

Recently, Pegatron moved its operations to North America and India and other countries to diversify its operation facilities all over the world. The company made this move shortly after the pandemic in 2020, which seriously disrupted supply operations and chains globally. According to Reuters, Pegatron launched a second factory in India to manufacture iPhones while diversifying operations from China.

Apple-Luxshare AR Deal 

The development comes shortly after Apple agreed with Luxshare to create a future duplication of its augmented reality smart glasses.

In a report made by Nikkei Asia based on five anonymous sources related to this situation, the former Pegatron facility would host Luxshare’s AR manufacturing facility. Apple used to support Behemoth, a Taipei-based manufacturing firm, for first-generation products but recently, it has shifted to Chinese companies due to the ongoing Sino-US tensions.

Sources have also revealed that Pegatron had developed iPhones and an AR lineup. The firm has discontinued the production of Apple’s AR headset to focus on automotive servers and tools. Luxshare purchased Pegatron’s share of Apple’s supply chain and upgraded its solutions for the firm’s MR headset. It will also produce iPhones, AirPods and Apple watches.

Struggles of the global metaverse 

The news comes after Apple canceled its production of AR devices to focus solely on MR headsets. Several companies like Microsoft, Google and Meta Platforms have scrapped their AR dreams to focus on the creation of current extended reality (XR) technologies.

Rumors also infer that the Cupertino-based company may cancel its plan to launch the device at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on 5 June.

Meta platforms announced similar initiatives by partnering with Tencent to authorize Meta Quest sales over the Chinese mainland. This profitable deal could let Meta have access to China’s huge tech market. This is after Tencent shut down its Metaverse division to focus on other devices.

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