Apple opens its ‘most extensive’ lab outside US in China amid fierce rivalry with Huawei

The new facility in the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong tech cooperation zone is one of several Apple research centres in China

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An Apple store in Shanghai, China. The US tech giant has opened a new research lab in Shenzhen. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:00pm, 11 Oct 2024

Apple has opened an applied research laboratory in the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen, as the US giant bolsters it commitment to the world’s largest smartphone market amid heightened competition with domestic players, including Huawei Technologies.

The facility started operations on Thursday at the Shenzhen Park in Hetao, a cooperation zone developed under the directive of the central government to deepen the city’s tech partnerships with neighbouring Hong Kong, according to a report by state media People’s Daily.

Apple announced in March its plans to build a new Shenzhen lab, which the company said would boost its testing and research capabilities for its major products, including the iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, and also serve to strengthen the firm’s collaboration with local suppliers.

The facility, spanning 20,000 square metres (215,000 square feet) in the initial phase, will become Apple’s research and development hub in the Greater Bay Area – an economic and business centre comprising Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province.

The Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone in southern China. Photo: Xinhua

It will eventually employ over 1,000 domestic and international talents, and become the company’s “most extensive” lab outside the United States, according to the report.