Apple opens an applied research laboratory in the Chinese city of Shenzhen [from Tweakers, Netherlands]

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ This facility will work on products such as the iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro. It will be the company's "most extensive" lab outside the US.
The facility is located in the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, writes South China Morning Post. It will be Apple's R&D hub in the Greater Bay Area, which consists of Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province. In addition to research into new products, the new branch must strengthen cooperation with local suppliers.
The laboratory has an area of ​​20,000 m2 and will ultimately employ more than 1,000 employees from home and abroad. This reportedly makes it the "most extensive" Apple lab outside the United States. The company said in March that it has opened research centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou and Shenzhen. There are twice as many R&D personnel working in China as there were five years ago.
With these new laboratories, Apple wants to strengthen its presence in China, where it faces fierce competition. In the second quarter of this year, Apple was the sixth largest smartphone seller in China, after vivo, Huawei, OPPO, Honor and Xiaomi. It is the first time in years that the manufacturer is no longer in the top five.