Apple CEO Tim Cook visits factory of major Chinese supplier Luxshare amid preparations for the assembly of its Vision Pro headset

Apple chief executive Tim Cook’s latest trip to China has included a low-key visit to manufacturing facilities run by Luxshare Precision Industry Co, as the US technology giant closely monitors the progress of its supply chain for the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.

Cook was spotted on Wednesday morning in a tour of a factory owned by Luxshare – a major Apple AirPods supplier that has also won iPhone 15 orders and was named as an assembler of the Vision Pro – in the northern part of eastern Zhejiang province, according to a report by state-owned Shanghai Securities News. Some photos from this visit were posted on Cook’s own account on microblogging service Weibo.

China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao on Wednesday also met Cook in Beijing, where he assured the US executive that multinational companies like Apple continue to be welcome in the country, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.

That followed reports of Cook’s visit last week to an Apple Store in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, where he expressed his excitement to reporters about the work done by Chinese-based developers on apps for the Vision Pro, Apple’s first major new product in a decade.

Unveiled in June, the Vision Pro is a “spatial computing” device that changes the way users interact with their favourite apps, capture images, enjoy television shows and films, and connect with others via FaceTime. The headset is expected to go on sale in the US early next year, priced at US$3,499.