China's Wingtech's rise in the tech industry has been surprisingly rapid. Around a year ago they started as an Apple supplier a year after buying component maker O-Film Technology that Apple dumped due to using Uyghur slave labor. Since that time, the company has progressed to  making Apple's Mac Mini desktop computer. It recently won orders to build an older generation of MacBooks at its Kunming facility, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter -- an impressive achievement given Apple's notoriously demanding quality standards.

An executive with another Apple supplier told Nikkei Asia that "Wingtech is one of a few Chinese tech suppliers that Apple praised for fast technological progression. It is indeed an emerging player that we should not ignore.  

MacBooks are among the most advanced consumer notebooks available, and their production has long been dominated by leading Taiwanese contract electronics makers Quanta Computer and Foxconn. Other notable Taiwanese manufacturers, such as Compal Computer and Wistron, have never gained orders for Apple's iconic laptops despite supplying HP, Dell and Lenovo for decades. Wingtech already builds laptops for Samsung, Lenovo and Asustek Computer, multiple industry sources said.

If you remember, it was reported by DigiTimes Asia in mid-June that Apple had commissioned Wingtech to manufacture the new M2 powered MacBook Air.  

Wingtech not only see's opportunities to expand the manufacturing capabilities to support future contract work with Apple, they're actually building a massive complex to support it with plans of hiring 15 to 20 thousand workers to make more Apple devices. It would appear that Wingtech has some form of commitment from Apple for them to go to the extent that they're going.

More specifically, Nikkei Asia reports that Wingtech already has a facility in Kunming that is about the size of 80 soccer fields and produces smartphones for China's Vivo, Oppo and others. Phase two will cost $437 million and is currently under construction as seen in the photo below.

To raise its manufacturing expertise to the level required by the U.S. tech titan, it has also made numerous overseas acquisitions. It also bought chipmaker Nexperia from NXP in 2019 and acquired the U.K.'s largest chip plant through Nexperia in 2021.

In addition, it also bought four subsidiaries from former Apple supplier O-Film Technology to gain know-how in building optical components and camera modules. Through Nexperia, it also owns chip packaging and testing facilities in Guangdong, the Philippines and Malaysia. Its device and components manufacturing sites are spread across China, Japan, India and Indonesia.

Wingtech is certainly a growing Apple supplier and one to keep an eye on going forward. For on this story, read the full Nikkei Asia report.