独家新闻:苹果转向中国,将AirPods Pro翻一番

发布于: 雪球转发:12回复:13喜欢:7

TAIPEI -- Apple will use a "wolflike" Chinese manufacturer to meet surging consumer demand for its AirPods Pro wireless earphones even as the Cupertino-based company has lobbied Washington for tariff relief amid the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute, the Nikkei Asian Review has learned.

In a threat to its usual suppliers, Apple has asked little-known Luxshare-ICT to double production of AirPods Pro earphones at its Chinese facilities to 2 million units a month, sources said. Apple has also asked Luxshare and fellow Chinese company GoerTek to boost production at their Vietnam-based factories of the lower-cost AirPods, the world's best-selling wireless earbuds.

Apple's move is further evidence that Chinese companies, contrary to Washington's desire to hobble their technological capabilities, can meet sudden demands for extra production while maintaining stringent quality control. It also shows that sales of Apple "hearables," which already have a 45% share of the wireless earbud market, continues to boom.

"Apple has increased monthly orders for the latest AirPods Pro from 1 million units to at least 2 million units thanks to healthy demand," said one of the people familiar with the situation. The Pro version wireless earbuds are produced at two Luxshare factories in mainland China, sources added.

Wireless earbuds are Apple's fastest-growing product line. The fact it has asked Luxshare to manufacture the AirPods Pro -- and also asked it and GoerTek to ramp-up production of lower range AirPods in Vietnam -- is a blow to Apple's usual suppliers, such as Taiwan's Foxconn, Quanta Computer and Inventec.

It also offers a broader warning about the advance of China's tech manufacturing sector, which has caught up with global rivals to make evermore high-end products. By 2018, Chinese suppliers already accounted for 41 of Apple's top 200 suppliers, more than their U.S. and Japanese counterparts, a Nikkei Asian Review analysis shows.

"In the future, it [wireless earbuds] could well sell at the level of the iPhone with some 200 million units a year," said Jeff Pu, a veteran tech analyst at GF securities, who estimates Apple will ship 80 million wireless earphones in 2020. Bloomberg last week reported that shipments this year could double to 60 million units, thanks in part to the AirPods Pro's popularity.

The new wireless earbuds, which offer noise cancellation as well as water resistance, were launched by Apple on Oct 31 at a price of $249, and deliveries have a wait time of up to one month due to robust demand. The more basic version, first launched in 2016, has a price tag of $159. Wearables such as the AirPods have emerged as a key growth driver for Apple, as iPhone sales have hit an apparent plateau.

"It's a very rare case that Apple sources a brand-new and high-end device firstly to a Chinese company ... That means this supplier really is able to meet Apple's critical demands for quality and efficiency," one source said.

Luxshare has a "wolflike" culture that values aggressiveness, an executive at an Apple supplier added. "Their team is young and moves so fast ... They told me that you guys are great but you are not combative as a wolf to adapt to rapidly changing business dynamics."

Founded in 2004 by Grace Wang, a former production line worker at Foxconn, the world's biggest electronics maker and main iPhone assembler, Luxshare has evolved from a small maker of components into a manufacturing powerhouse that serves international customers including Apple, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Tesla.

The Chinese company entered Apple's supply chain as a peripheral component supplier in 2012. But in just five years it emerged as a source for more complicated work. It has been making AirPods since late 2017, and this year won orders to assemble Apple Watches as well. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, has praised Luxshare's success as a realization of the "Chinese dream."

The Chinese-made AirPods Pro already face tariffs due to the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. Despite the unrest in Hong Kong, China and the U.S. are "very close" to a phase one trade deal, the Global Times, a tabloid controlled by China's Communist Party, reported on Monday.

Apple, which has also sought direct tariff relief from U.S. President Donald Trump, has meanwhile turned to Vietnam as a production base in order to avoid U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. GoerTek is ready to begin mass production of AirPods there, while Luxshare is trialing production as a prelude to mass production, Nikkei Asian Review has learned.

"Chinese companies are much more aggressive than their Taiwanese or Japanese peers when it comes to production diversification from China to counter [U.S.] tariffs," said another executive at a second Apple supplier. "While we are still evaluating and reviewing whether to buy a factory in Vietnam ... Luxshare and another Chinese company have made their decision to grab it."

Revenues at Guangdong-based Luxshare have soared by 3,445% since 2010 to reach 35.85 billion yuan ($5.1 billion) in 2018, while net profits have jumped 2,247% to 2.72 billion yuan. With a market capitalization of around 177 billion yuan, the company has also surpassed the value of most of its Taiwanese and U.S. rivals, such as Quanta Computer, Pegatron and Flex.

"I see Luxshare as a formidable rising competitor," a third Apple supplier executive said. "If we don't keep improving our competitiveness, sooner or later it will eat Taiwanese companies for lunch," added the executive who has monitored the Chinese company for years.

Luxshare's progress is in line with Beijing's policy for China to become the world's next tech superpower. This month, Beijing announced a new 147 billion yuan fund with the aim of further boosting Chinese sufficiency in next-generation information technologies.

"Luxshare operates in a more cost-effective way than its rivals thanks to the support of the Chinese government. It also really is reacting faster to relocate production outside China because of the trade war," GF Securities' Pu said. "Those advantages will help Luxshare gain more business, which will definitely pressure its peers."

Apple, Luxshare and Goertek did not respond to requests for comment.

台北——日经亚洲评论获悉,苹果将利用一家“狼一样”的中国制造商来满足消费者对其AirPods Pro无线耳机日益增长的需求,尽管总部位于库比蒂诺的苹果公司在美中贸易争端中游说华盛顿方面要求降低关税。

消息人士称,苹果公司威胁到其通常的供应商,要求鲜为人知的Luxshare-ICT将其中国工厂的AirPods Pro耳机产量增加一倍,达到每月200万台。苹果公司还要求卢克斯特和中国公司戈尔泰(GoerTek)在越南的工厂里提高低成本空气唱盘的产量,这是世界上最畅销的无线耳机。

苹果的举动进一步证明,与华盛顿方面限制其技术能力的愿望相反,中国企业可以在保持严格质量控制的同时,满足对额外生产的突然需求。它还显示,已经占据无线耳机市场45%份额的苹果“助听器”的销售继续繁荣。

一位知情人士表示:“得益于健康的需求,苹果公司已将最新一代AirPods Pro的月订单从100万台增加到至少200万台。”。消息人士补充说,专业版无线耳塞是在中国大陆的两家奢侈品工厂生产的。

无线耳塞是苹果增长最快的产品线。事实上,该公司已要求卢克夏制造专业版的AirPods,并要求该公司和戈尔泰克在越南增加低端AirPods的生产,这对苹果的常规供应商是一个打击,如台湾的富士康、广达电脑和英业达。

它还对中国科技制造业的发展发出了更广泛的警告,中国科技制造业已经赶上了全球竞争对手,生产越来越多的高端产品。日经亚洲评论分析显示,到2018年,中国供应商已经占到苹果前200名供应商中的41家,超过了美国和日本供应商。

广发证券资深技术分析师杰夫·普(Jeff Pu)表示:“未来,它的[无线耳塞]很有可能达到苹果手机每年约2亿部的水平。”他预计苹果将在2020年发售8000万部无线耳机。彭博上周报道说,今年的出货量可能会翻一番,达到6000万台,部分原因是AirPods Pro的流行。

苹果公司于10月31日以249美元的价格推出了这款新型无线耳塞,既能消除噪音,又能防水,由于需求强劲,送货等待时间长达一个月。更基本的版本于2016年首次推出,标价为159美元。随着苹果手机销量达到明显的平稳状态,像AirPods这样的可穿戴设备已经成为苹果的一个关键增长驱动力

“苹果首次向中国公司采购全新高端设备的情况非常罕见...这意味着这家供应商真的能够满足苹果对质量和效率的关键需求,”一位消息人士表示。

苹果供应商的一名高管补充道,卢克斯特有一种重视侵略性的“狼一样”的文化。“他们的队伍很年轻,动作也很快...他们告诉我,你们很棒,但你们并不像狼一样好斗,无法适应快速变化的商业动态。”

2004年,由全球最大的电子产品制造商和主要的苹果手机组装商富士康的前生产线工人格蕾丝·王(Grace Wang)创立,卢克斯特已经从一个小型零部件制造商发展成为一个为包括苹果、华为、Oppo、Vivo和特斯拉在内的国际客户服务的制造工厂。

这家中国公司于2012年作为外围组件供应商进入苹果的供应链。但仅在五年内,它就成为更复杂工作的来源。自2017年底以来,苹果一直在制作光盘,今年还赢得了组装苹果手表的订单。苹果公司首席执行官蒂姆·库克称赞卢克斯特的成功是“中国梦”的实现

由于正在进行的美中贸易争端,中国制造的专业机场已经面临关税。中国共产党控制的小报《环球时报》周一报道称,尽管香港出现动荡,但中国和美国“非常接近”一期贸易协议。

苹果也向美国总统唐纳德·特朗普寻求直接关税减免,同时转向越南作为生产基地,以避免美国对中国商品征收关税。《日经亚洲评论》获悉,戈尔泰已经准备好在那里开始大规模生产光盘,而卢克斯特正在试验生产,作为大规模生产的前奏。

另一家苹果供应商的另一名高管表示:“中国企业在从中国生产多样化产品以应对[对美国的关税方面,比台湾或日本同行更具侵略性。”。“当我们仍在评估和审查是否在越南收购一家工厂时...卢克斯特和另一家中国公司已经决定收购它。”

自2010年以来,总部位于广东的奢侈品销售收入飙升了3,445%

翻译是搜狗做的,差错很多,但是能看。$立讯精密(SZ002475)$ $歌尔股份(SZ002241)$

全部讨论

Metaphysicae2019-11-27 18:24

多屌

欲晓2019-11-27 18:17

立讯精密翻译成卢克斯特了?

杀猪哥2019-11-27 15:32

同意

一水一尘2019-11-27 15:27

Metaphysicae2019-11-27 15:13

投资还是要有地域选择的

弱股三千只取一票2019-11-27 15:09

跟地域确实是有关系,山东相对于深圳来说算是穷地方,不信人们肯花几千块买一对耳机也是情理之中。换你是姜老板可能也会这样决策。到现在为止,相信AirPods卖的好的投资者也不多的。

扭扭爸2019-11-27 14:56

搞房地产去了。

含笑半步癫over2019-11-27 14:53

第一代找的歌尔? 那这么说歌尔管理层真是得自己抽自己嘴巴 白白送了个千亿市值出去了

Metaphysicae2019-11-27 14:50

会出现几个价格段的产品,从低于100,然后100-300,接着300-500,后面是600-800,900-1200,然后再往上的价格区间。白牌会是300以下的,然后品牌基础款会是100-300的,上面是手机品牌的基础款,进阶款和旗舰款。看看未来市场的演进吧,现在真说不清楚,低端的可能是白牌的天下,也可能是手机品牌的基本款的天下。

弱股三千只取一票2019-11-27 14:45

$立讯精密(SZ002475)$ $歌尔股份(SZ002241)$ 从苹果的表述中可以看出,他们非常器重立讯这家公司,认为他像狼一样有战斗力,仅几年时间从一家小配件厂成长为几千亿的精密制造企业,堪称“中国梦”的典范。在立讯面前,歌尔这家在多年前就已达到500亿规模的公司却在原地徘徊好久,可见山东的企业和深圳的企业差距还是非常明显。虽然现在歌尔也发展的还不错,但他确实是失去了好多年,AirPods一代苹果就是先找到歌尔,歌尔担心没市场怕毛利低不愿做,主动把机会送给立讯。后来看卖得好了又跑去抢回一些份额,到二季度才完成良率爬坡。我想这和董事长的格局还是有关系的,不说别的,就看姜滨在减持股份这事上,就一直做的不太光彩。