Loving and hating Apple, and manufacturing AI glasses on an OEM basis, can Goertek Inc. "change its fate against all odds"?

The relationship between Goertek and Apple has taken another step forward.

Recently, Apple's spatial computing device, the Vision Pro, has welcomed a new supplier. According to XR Control's report and information disclosed by the China Quality Certification Center, Goertek has been added as the contract manufacturer for its external battery.

This contract manufacturing giant, which has been supplying components such as speakers and microphones to Apple for more than a decade, was the contract manufacturer for the acoustic components of the Vision Pro from the very beginning. However, the assembly work for this "trans - era" product was given to its "arch - rival", Luxshare Precision.

Regrettably, this product, which has been on the market for more than two years and embodies all of Apple's fantasies about future XR hardware, has yet to see any commercial returns.

In January this year, foreign media reported that Apple had shelved its improvement plan for the Vision Pro. Recently, there have been widespread rumors that Apple has basically suspended the maintenance of the Vision Pro industry. Its R & D focus has shifted from immersive headsets to more lightweight AR devices, which is nothing short of an earthquake for component suppliers at the end of the industrial chain.

Goertek has already felt the knock - on effect of fluctuations in the business of its major customer on its downstream operations. Three years ago, the suspension of production of a single product supplied to Apple led to a "Davis double - whammy" for Goertek. By manufacturing game consoles and headsets for giants such as Sony, Goertek managed to get through that difficult period.

As one of the three major contract manufacturers in the Apple supply chain, Goertek cannot do without Apple, but it is also constantly trying to shed the label of over - dependence on Apple and has controlled the proportion of its revenue from Apple to around 30%.

Relying on its technological accumulation in the fields of acoustics and optics, Goertek is now trying to transform from a traditional hardware contract manufacturer into a solution provider for "AI + smart hardware".

If its "love - hate relationship" with Apple is its past, then now, Goertek needs to achieve more in the VR/AR field to prove that it can move forward more steadily.

1

The "Love - Hate Relationship" with Apple

Goertek's story began with the Weifang No. 8 Radio Factory in the last century.

At that time, the power plant went bankrupt due to poor management. Jiang Bin, who was a workshop technician in the factory, joined forces with several colleagues to establish the predecessor of Goertek, Weifang Yilida Electro - acoustic Co., Ltd., in 2001, which was responsible for the manufacturing of microphone - related products.

As the company's operations expanded, it was renamed Goertek Acoustic Co., Ltd. in 2006, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2008, and renamed Goertek Inc. in 2016. It is not difficult to see the development trajectory of its business from acoustics to a wider range of smart hardware and precision components.

Looking back at Goertek's more than 20 - year development history, its founder, Jiang Bin, has rich business experience in China, while his younger brother, Jiang Long, has a brilliant resume overseas. His interdisciplinary knowledge and management experience have also brought an international perspective to Goertek in its early days.

Perhaps the two brothers never imagined that this startup factory in the small city of Weifang would become a leading contract manufacturer with a peak market value of over 180 billion yuan. Becoming one of Apple's core suppliers in 2010 was the turning point in Goertek's fate.

That year, Goertek entered Apple's supply chain for the first time as a supplier of acoustic components such as microphones and speakers, providing wired headphones and acoustic modules for the iPhone. This was also the beginning of its soaring performance.

In 2010, Goertek's revenue and net profit reached 2.645 billion yuan and 277 million yuan respectively, with year - on - year growth rates of up to 134.7% and 176.79%.

In order to better meet Apple's strict requirements for suppliers, Goertek continuously acquired acoustics and optics companies to strengthen its technological reserves.

For example, in 2014, Goertek acquired the Danish high - end audio brand Dynaudio to improve its acoustic design and manufacturing capabilities; in 2017, it invested 24.6 million US dollars to take a stake in the American micro - display company Kopin to obtain AR/VR optical technology.

All these laid the foundation for Goertek to win the Apple Air Pods order.

In 2016, Apple launched the first - generation Air Pods. The following year, Luxshare Precision won the first Air Pods order. It was not until 2018 that Goertek began to manufacture Air Pods, becoming the second - largest contract manufacturer in the Apple supply chain after Luxshare Precision.

The Air Pods were the first product with an annual sales volume of over 100 million units besides the iPhone. The stable product orders also made Goertek a veritable acoustic giant. Goertek's revenue and stock price soared, and the company's market value once exceeded 180 billion yuan.

In the 2022 "New Fortune Magazine 500 Wealth - Creation List", Jiang Bin, the founder of Goertek, and his family ranked 68th on the list with a huge fortune of 57.5 billion yuan and won the title of "Richest Man in Shandong".

However, it was also Apple that brought both success and failure.

In November 2022, Goertek issued a "Risk Warning Announcement" stating that the company had recently received a notice from a major overseas customer to suspend the production of a smart acoustic whole - machine product. The outside world speculated that the product whose production was suspended was Apple's Air Pods Pro 2 headphones. Instead, Luxshare Precision became the exclusive assembly manufacturer of the Air Pods Pro 2.

Photo / Tmall Supermarket

Affected by this, in 2022, Goertek's revenue from its smart acoustic whole - machine business decreased by 14.58% year - on - year, and the company's net profit attributable to shareholders plummeted by 59% year - on - year. The outside world even questioned whether Goertek would be "kicked out" of the Apple supply chain like O - Film.

However, according to a post by Tianfeng International analyst Guo Mingji on November 12, 2024, Goertek has become the NPI supplier for two new Apple products, the smart home network camera and Air Pods, in 2026, which means that the cooperation between the two sides is starting to normalize.

Thanks to the resurgence of the consumer electronics industry driven by AI products and the policy support for AI - related products, Goertek's performance has also begun to recover.

The third - quarter report for 2025 shows that Goertek achieved an operating income of 68.11 billion yuan in the first three quarters, a slight year - on - year decrease of 2.21%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.587 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 10.33%.

Overall, Goertek's more than a decade - long tie - up with Apple has both built its contract manufacturing empire and exposed it to the impacts of order fluctuations several times. Even though the cooperation relationship is gradually being repaired and the performance is back on the growth track, the hidden worry of "dependence on the Apple supply chain" has not truly disappeared.

2

Contract Manufacturing for VR: A "Fate - Changing" Move?

After the headphone production suspension incident, Goertek's performance and stock price both declined in the short term. It managed to get through this difficult period because its contract manufacturing for VR and game console manufacturers offset the risk of a decline in revenue from precision components.

As early as 2012, Goertek realized the development prospects of the smart hardware field and began R & D work in the VR field. It reached cooperation agreements with giants such as Meta and Sony, mainly manufacturing electronic game consoles for them, and later gradually expanded to the fields of VR/AR, smart watches, and bracelets.

In 2016, Goertek became the exclusive agent for Sony's PSVR; in 2020, Goertek won the exclusive supply order for Meta's Quests 2, the leading VR product.

According to the financial report, in 2022, the top five customers of Goertek contributed 87.91% of its sales. The outside world speculates that the top three customers are Apple, Meta, and Sony respectively.

Goertek has three major business lines: precision components, smart hardware, and smart acoustic whole - machine. The first two products are widely used in smartphones, tablets, VR/AR, smart wearables, smart homes, etc., while the main products of smart acoustic whole - machine include wireless/wired headphones, smart speakers, etc.

As early as 2021, Goertek's smart hardware business contributed 41.94% of its revenue, while the revenue from precision components accounted for 17.69% during the same period. By 2022, the proportion of smart hardware revenue exceeded 60%, and the proportion of the precision component business declined to 13.35%.

During this period, Goertek also continuously enhanced its technological strength in the fields of optics and microelectronics through external acquisitions.

In August 2025, the company funded the acquisition of the Micro - LED technology company Plessey. Subsequently, its subsidiary, Goertek Optics, acquired 100% of the equity of Shanghai Aolai for 1.903 billion yuan to provide underlying technical support for AI glasses and AR business.

With more than a decade of layout, Goertek is currently the core contract manufacturer for VR products of manufacturers such as Meta and Pico. It has also won the order for Xiaomi's first AI glasses and has a market share of over 70% in the VR contract manufacturing market.

By 2024, the proportion of Goertek's sales to its first - largest customer (Apple) had dropped to 31.96%, far lower than Luxshare Precision's sales proportion of about 70%.

It is worth noting that the precision component business focuses on product directions such as acoustics, optics, microelectronics, and structural parts. The main products include speakers, optical devices, acoustic sensors, etc. It is more difficult than simple contract assembly production and has a higher gross profit margin.

As of the first half of 2025, the revenue from Goertek's precision components accounted for 20.25%, with a gross profit margin of 23.49%. Although smart hardware contributed 54.17% of the revenue, its gross profit margin was only 11.51%, a ten - percentage - point difference from that of components.

As an example, according to the disassembly calculations of Tianfeng Securities, Zhongtai Securities, Guoxin Securities, etc., the unit value of Goertek's contract - manufactured VR headsets is about 70 US dollars, slightly lower than the 93 US dollars for contract - manufactured Airpods.

Smart hardware provides Goertek with room for performance imagination and breathing space, and to a certain extent, offsets the risks of the Apple supply chain. However, the low gross profit margin also makes it impossible to ignore the precision component business in the short term.

Although the VR/AR market is booming, as a downstream contract manufacturer, Goertek still earns hard - won money. With high revenue but low gross profit, the company has yet to break through the profit ceiling of the contract manufacturing industry.

3

The AI Narrative: Can't Avoid the Big Players

On the one hand, Goertek is trying to shed the label of dependence on major customers, while on the other hand, it is constantly strengthening its strength in precision components, getting ready for battle.

In July 2025, Goertek proposed a sky - high acquisition deal worth HK$10.4 billion (equivalent to about 9.5 billion yuan), targeting two precision manufacturing enterprises, Miya Precision and Changhong Industry, under Hong Kong Lianfeng. The large amount shocked the entire consumer electronics industry.

Goertek said that the core reason for this acquisition was to respond to the industry trend of "increasingly higher requirements for components such as precision structural parts".

However, according to industry insiders, the acquisition targets are all companies in the Apple supply chain. This acquisition is also Goertek's consideration of strengthening the Apple industrial chain and further deepening cooperation with Apple.

In the highly mature consumer electronics manufacturing field, contract manufacturers and giants mostly have a symbiotic relationship. The former can not only obtain orders from the giants but also gain timely insights into valuable cutting - edge technologies and market trends.

However, this merger and acquisition did not ultimately materialize. In October of the same year, Goertek proposed to terminate the acquisition mainly "because the two parties to the transaction failed to reach an agreement on the key terms of the transaction".

From Apple's product development trend, we can see why Goertek is eager to lay out the precision manufacturing field in advance. Beyond the traditional mobile phone, headphone, and computer businesses, the Vision Pro headset, a spatial computing device, truly embodies Apple's ambition.

Going back to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in 2023, Tim Cook introduced the most important "one more thing" - the Apple Vision Pro.

Photo / Apple's official website

This device took many years to develop, and Cook regarded the Vision Pro as a revolutionary product. In addition to immersive experiences such as watching movies and playing games, the Vision Pro can also integrate digital content into the real world to achieve augmented reality.

Although the market acceptance of the US$3,499 (about 24,000 yuan) price is limited, Apple's entry seems to mean that the competition in the AR/VR industry has entered a new stage.

However, two years after its launch, the Vision Pro has become a test product of black technology from a "star of tomorrow" due to the mismatch between its functional experience and price. According to Lei Technology, Apple has basically suspended the maintenance of the Vision Pro industry. There are also reports that Apple's R & D focus has shifted from immersive headsets to lightweight AR glasses.

According to a report by LatePost, as a giant in the Apple supply chain, Goertek not only provides precision component products for Apple but also manufactures acoustic components, light shields