TAIPEI -- Apple will use a "wolflike" Chinese manufacturer to meet surging consumer demand for its AirPods Pro wireless earphones even as the California-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.
