Apple Supplier Luxshare Accused of Acquiring Taiwan Tech Firm: Report

Apple’s Chinese supplier Luxshare Precision Industry’s head has been reportedly indicted by the Taiwanese prosecutors for using a shell company to secretly take over a key local company. Luxshare Chairperson Grace Wang has allegedly used a Hong Kong firm to mask her company’s identity and buy shares in Taiwan-headquartered Speed Tech in 2012. Mainland Chinese companies are allowed to do business on the island only after getting approval from local authorities. Taiwan earlier accused Luxshare of stealing commercial secrets from a Taiwanese supplier.

As per a report by Bloomberg, Taiwanese prosecutors in a court filing alleged that Grace Wang used a Hong Kong firm to hide the identity of her company and purchase shares in Speed Tech in 2012. As per Taiwanese law, mainland Chinese companies cannot conduct business on the island without approval from the local authorities.

Luxshare, which typically produces basic tech accessories and components such as cables, chargers and antennas, emerged as a global iPhone assembler in recent years. The Chinese company recently agreed to acquire Wistron’s iPhone unit.

A lot of mainland Chinese companies are reportedly accused of technology theft. In July this year, Taiwanese prosecutors accused Luxshare of stealing commercial secrets from a Taiwanese supplier and poaching its workforce to win orders from the US company.

Prosecutors in New Taipei had found that China’s Luxshare Precision Industry had targeted Taiwanese competitor Catcher Technology “in order to quickly enter the Apple production chain to win orders.” They had charged 14 people in connection with the case for breach of trust.