SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Shares in Apple Inc vendor Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd fell a whopping 9.5% Monday amid new concerns over a patent infringement investigation filed against him from the United States.
On Sunday, the company said in a grant filing that it had been made aware of two United States International Trade Commission (USITC) notices relating to a Section 337 investigation filed against the company by U.S. Amphenol Corp for infringement of intellectual ownership.
Luxshare said it had hired a team of attorneys to respond and would follow suit for the investigation without elaborating, but reiterated that the case “will have no material impact” on its current operations and production.
Amphenol filed a Section 337 complaint against Luxshare and its subsidiaries in December, alleging that certain electrical components imported from Luxshare into the United States infringe Amphenol’s patents for connector cables.
Days later, Luxshare issued a statement saying it was aware of the complaint through the USITC website, adding that it had set up an internal working group to investigate the claims.
Founded in 2004, Luxshare has grown into a fast-growing supplier for Apple in recent years. It has steadily moved up the hardware giant’s value chain, from making connection cables for the iPhone and Macbook to making Airpods.
Last year, the company acquired two iPhone assembly plants from Taiwan-based Wistron Corp.
The move made some executives at Foxconn, the dominant maker of the handsets, nervous, and is seen by analysts as a sign that more indigenous Chinese companies are entering deeper into Apple’s supply chain.
Reporting by Josh Horwitz; edited by Richard Pullin