Apple's lab officially opened on October 10th at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone.

Earlier in March, the iPhone manufacturer announced plans to build a lab here to boost research and testing capabilities for major products such as the iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro, while also strengthening partnerships with local suppliers.

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Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone. Photo: Xinhua

The facility, initially spanning 20,000 square meters, will become Apple's R&D center in the Greater Bay Area – a major economic and business hub encompassing Hong Kong (China), Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong province.

The company plans to hire more than 1,000 employees domestically and internationally, and eventually build the "largest" lab outside of the United States.

Apple is increasing its investment in research in China despite efforts to diversify its manufacturing supply chain. Mainland China, along with Hong Kong and Taiwan, makes up Apple's largest geographic market after the Americas and Europe.

The company announced in March that it had established research centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Shenzhen. The size of its R&D team in China has doubled in the past five years.

Apple faces increasing competition in the Chinese smartphone market, where Huawei has made a comeback with the launch of its new 5G device last year.

For the first time in four years, Huawei sold more devices in mainland China than Apple in August, according to a report from research firm CINNO.

This figure aligns with findings from the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology, which noted a 12.7% drop in overseas smartphone shipments in August compared to a year earlier.

Apple dropped out of the top 5 smartphone manufacturers in China in the second quarter as its market share fell below 14%, according to research firm IDC.

(According to SCMP)