Nikkei analysis… 9% from Taiwan, 7% from China, 6% from the US
Japan’s Nippon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that after disassembling the extended reality (XR) headset ‘Vision Pro’ released by Apple in the U.S., 13% of the parts were made in Korea. 42% were from Japan.
The newspaper reported this after analyzing about 300 Vision Pro parts in cooperation with research company Formal House Techno Solutions.
When looking at parts by country, Taiwan ranked 3rd with 9%, China ranked 4th with 7%, and the United States ranked 5th with 6%. Others/unknown was 23%.
The estimated cost of Vision Pro with its major components was about $1,200 (about 1.6 million won). It was about one-third of the selling price of $3,499 (about 4.66 million won).
Japanese parts included Sony’s organic EL display, camera image sensor, and Kioxia’s flash memory that stores data. The cooling fan motor was made by NIDEK (Japan Electronics). There were also electronic parts that appear to have been manufactured by Murata Works and Nippon Tank Industries.
Korean products included SK Hynix’s D-gram.
The newspaper analyzed that the number of Japanese parts installed in the Vision Pro has increased compared to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, one of Apple’s latest smartphone models.
Among iPhone 15 Pro Max parts, Japanese products ranked third with 10%. The United States ranked first with 32% and Korea ranked second with 29%.
The newspaper said, “(With the birth of Vision Pro), the world has gone from 2D to 3D. He explained, “The optical technology of Japanese companies that have shown special skills in cameras, etc. is receiving (good) reviews.”
In the first iPhone released in 2007, Japanese parts had a prominent presence. However, “As production expanded, we lost market share to Korean and American (parts) manufacturers,” Nikkei reported.
At the same time, the newspaper pointed out, “In order for Japanese parts manufacturers to maintain their superiority in Vision Pro (parts), it is necessary to reduce costs for distribution.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.