Apple is to launch two new research and development (R&D) facilities in China, aiming to expand its presence in this burgeoning consumer market and facilitate closer working relationships with some of the world’s leading consumer electronics and hardware manufacturers. Whether this investment will reverse the trend of falling revenues, however, remains to be seen.
In September, it was revealed that Apple is planning to open a $45m research centre in Beijing, employing 500 people tasked with the development of innovative hardware. One month later, it was announced that a further R&D facility will go ahead in Shenzhen, Guangdong, an area often described as China’s ‘Silicon Valley’.While locating in Beijing is a somewhat surprising decision, due to its distance from the main development hubs, Shenzhen is a more predictable choice and much closer to tech companies such as Huawei, Tencent and Baidu. The company has not yet announced how many employees will be based at the Shenzhen facility.
Despite some uncertainty about employee numbers, the scale of Apple’s R&D investment in China is unlikely to challenge its Chinese competitors significantly. According to data sourced from the Market Research Centre SINO for the first half of 2016, two of Apple’s main competitors – Huawei and OPPO – both saw sales volumes increase over this period.