Apple has hired Chinese company Luxshare to help develop first-generation augmented reality (AR) devices. This is the first time a tech giant has used a Chinese supplier to co-create a first-generation product.
This choice by Apple is particularly notable at a time of tension between the US and China. Previously, the corporation relied more on Taiwanese companies like Foxconn to develop its new product lines, Gizmochina recalls.
At the same time, Luxshare quickly became one of China’s leading technology companies right after it acquired an augmented reality development team in Shanghai from its previous owners, Taiwan’s Pegatron.
Pegatron was the first vendor to help Apple develop AR devices, but collaboration in this direction has been on and off for four years.
The company had been making the Hololens mixed reality headset for Microsoft for years, but was skeptical of Apple’s AR plans and gradually backed out of the project to focus on other applications (mainly automotive and server).
Luxshare, by contrast, aims to become the most stable and important supplier for Apple’s business in China.
Foxconn is also participating in the AR project and will develop a cheaper second generation AR device in parallel.
Luxshare’s involvement in the development of AR devices is a sign of the company’s growing importance to Apple, said Chiu Shi-Fang, a technology supply chain analyst at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.
However, he adds that this does not mean that Luxshare’s development capabilities are good enough to compete with Taiwanese providers.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
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