Apple COO Visits China Again, Explores Long-Standing "Apple Chain" Suppliers Foxconn and XinwangDa

In less than half a year, Apple executives have launched a new round of visits to China.

On March 17, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan visited the Xinwangda battery factory in Shenzhen, the Foxconn iPhone assembly line, and the iPad assembly operations at Foxconn’s Chengdu factory.

These are two highly experienced Chinese “Apple supply chain” companies. Xinwangda’s cooperation with Apple began with the iPod and has lasted for 20 years. Currently, they supply batteries for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other product lines; Foxconn has been the core contractor for iPhone assembly, with broader business collaborations now covering more areas.

During this trip, Sabih Khan covered key segments from battery production to full device assembly, providing a comprehensive view of the latest developments in China’s supply chain in smart manufacturing.

At Xinwangda’s battery factory, the iPhone battery production line has undergone multiple automation upgrades. Unlike the traditional long, noisy production lines, the equipment layout here is more compact, operates at a faster pace, and overall noise has been significantly reduced. The main reason is Xinwangda’s upgrade from traditional belt conveyors to magnetic levitation production lines, which use electromagnetic forces to move objects.

Xinwangda staff told Jiemian News that this production line has undergone four iterations over the past decade. It started with manual labor transitioning to automation, then introduced rotary lines to save space, followed by the third-generation one-dimensional magnetic levitation lines, and now the latest fourth-generation lines with high flexibility and high precision, known as six-dimensional magnetic levitation lines.

Currently, the one-dimensional magnetic levitation line is fully applied to iPhone production, while the six-dimensional line, with its multiple degrees of freedom and high adjustability, can quickly deploy production processes for batteries of different sizes and shapes. Deployment time has been reduced from 2 hours to 6 minutes, decreasing waste by 95%.

Xinwangda’s six-dimensional magnetic levitation line (Image source: Apple)

Xinwangda also heavily utilizes digital twin technology as a key support tool for production line operation. By real-time data collection and modeling of equipment, engineers can use Apple Vision Pro to access live data and visuals, enabling remote diagnostics and debugging. This has reduced on-site equipment troubleshooting time by 72%. Additionally, digital twins are used for optimizing line design by simulating different parameter combinations to find better operational solutions.

In quality inspection, Xinwangda and Apple jointly developed an “iPhone testing iPhone” automatic optical inspection device. It uses an iPhone as a visual capture terminal, leveraging its built-in GPU and neural engine for local inference, taking photos and inspecting all six sides of the battery.

Xinwangda’s automatic optical inspection device (Image source: Apple)

Next, Sabih Khan visited Foxconn’s Guanlan factory in Shenzhen, where he toured the iPhone motherboard production line and full device assembly line.

As a partner involved since the first-generation iPhone, Foxconn’s investments in automation and digitalization mainly focus on system integration capabilities. The unmanned motherboard factory, where production is fully automated, exemplifies this.

In a control room of about a few dozen square meters, two walls are covered with electronic screens, and a large transparent glass window forms the control center of the “lights-out” factory. From here, the factory’s interior is visible: neatly arranged flexible production lines, automated material transport vehicles, and collaborative robots handling loading and unloading.

From loading and unloading, robotic arms picking and placing, logistics transfer, to carrier board recycling, the entire process is fully unmanned. The control center manages production status through digital twin technology, enabling real-time centralized control of equipment operation, cycle times, and exception handling.

In Chengdu, Foxconn is operating the full assembly line for the recently launched MacBook Neo. The engineering teams collaborated on automatic screw technology to develop screwless fastening methods and simplify processes. This factory, which began iPad assembly in 2010, has since expanded to MacBook, Apple Watch assembly lines, as well as display and shell production lines.

Foxconn’s automated feeding equipment on the production line (Image source: Apple)

Sabih Khan recalled that his earliest visit to Shenzhen was in the late 20th century. The long-term cooperation between Apple, Xinwangda, and Foxconn exemplifies how these companies have jointly achieved great accomplishments. “Working together creates more value than working alone. We are in a symbiotic relationship.”

Regarding the achievements of Chinese suppliers in smart manufacturing, Sabih Khan expressed high recognition and mentioned that he has studied China’s new five-year plan, which emphasizes manufacturing, talent development, and “AI+” initiatives, all reflected in Apple’s Chinese suppliers’ production workshops.

In an increasingly intelligent manufacturing environment, there are concerns and anxieties about workers’ value in society. Sabih Khan believes that the core work the company can do is to continue talent development programs and invest in education funds, promoting skills enhancement through courses in AI, programming, leadership, and communication, to support workers’ long-term career growth. By 2026, the company plans to collaborate with suppliers to launch new “AI+” training courses.

In fact, against the backdrop of globalized supply chains, Foxconn and other key Apple suppliers’ overseas expansion actions have attracted particular attention. How manufacturers position Chinese factories within the global production network and set development priorities has become increasingly important.

Jiang Jiheng, General Manager of Foxconn’s Business Group, summarized that the company’s nearly 40 years of development has been centered on aligning with customer strategies, industry trends, and national development directions.

He told Jiemian News that AI will play a crucial role in Foxconn’s future development. “This is an industry trend and a huge opportunity. I think everyone should embrace this technological revolution.” Besides, improving product engineering service quality, maintaining talent cultivation, and green manufacturing are also key priorities.

Regarding the trend of globalized supply chains, Jiang Jiheng believes this is a stage that different industries must go through. Among these, Foxconn’s Chinese factories remain the core bases for engineering validation, development, and manufacturing. This is supported by China’s advantages in technological talent accumulation, government support, and a complete industrial ecosystem.

“Any innovative concept can be rapidly turned into a mass-produced product in China. That’s really not easy,” Jiang said.

Beyond manufacturing capabilities, green production is also a significant focus of this visit. Xinwangda has achieved 100% renewable energy use in its production processes through solar systems and has established a recycling system covering the entire battery lifecycle. Foxconn’s relevant factories in China also achieve 100% renewable energy supply and participate in waste zero-landfill projects.

Apple disclosed that over the past year, its Chinese suppliers saved approximately 55 billion liters of freshwater through clean water projects—equivalent to filling West Lake four times.

Source: Jiemian News

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