Cook can't make iPhones without this Chinese firm, its CEO

At a time when Apple is generally trying to depend less on China, the company is relying more on one Chinese firm whose skill at assembling the tech giant's products has proven too valuable to dismiss.

- Yang Jie

Many Apple customers may not be familiar with Luxshare Precision or its leader Grace Wang, but they likely own its handiwork. Along with other Apple contractors, Luxshare manufactures AirPods, the Apple Watch and the recently released iPhone 15, including the top-of-the-line iPhone Pro Max. Luxshare is also the assembler of Apple's first mixed-reality headset, due to reach consumers next year.

That list of products shows the challenges facing Apple chief Tim Cook in trying to ease back from producing in a U.S. adversary and lean more on nations such as India and Vietnam.

On Wednesday, Cook made a surprise visit to Luxshare's Apple Watch factory near Shanghai and praised the assembler's work in making Apple's most advanced products. In a video posted on social media, Cook smiled and nodded as he spoke to Wang, Luxshare's chairwoman, and viewed solar panels powering the factory.

"Thank you, Grace and team, for sharing our commitment to protecting the planet," he wrote on social media.

It was a follow-up to a visit Cook paid to another Luxshare factory in 2017 when the relationship was beginning to take off. Cook then praised the supplier's "phenomenal precision and care" and said, "Chairman Grace Wang has built a culture of excellence."

Apple has been hitting headwinds in China recently as the government orders officials not to use the iPhone or other foreign devices at work and cracks down on foreign apps. Yet most iPhones are still made in the country and it would likely take years to change that.

One reason: Chinese CEOS such as Wang are experts at doing what Apple wants.

Her story is intertwined with that of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology, which long dominated iPhone assembly at its "iPhone city" in central China. Luxshare started by taking orders that Foxconn couldn't fulfill and now is eating into Foxconn's Apple share, according to analysts.