Shares of Luxshare fall after US patent infringement notice

Amid fresh concerns about a patent infringement investigation filed against it from the United States, shares of Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd fell as much as 9.5 per cent. Incidentally, Luxshare has been a supplier of Apple.

In a stock market filing, the company said that it had been informed of two notices issued by the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) regarding a Section 337 investigation filed against it by U.S.-based Amphenol Corp. alleging IP infringement.

Luxshare said it had hired a team of lawyers to respond and would follow procedure on the investigation without elaborating but reiterated that the case will not have a material impact on its current operations and production.

Amphenol filed a Section 337 complaint against Luxshare and its subsidiaries in December alleging that certain electric components imported into the United States from Luxshare infringe on Amphenol's patents for connector cables.

Days later, Luxshare issued a statement saying that it had learned of the complaint via USITC's website and added that it had established an internal working group to investigate the claims.

Founded in 2004, Luxshare has in recent years become a fast-rising supplier for Apple. It has steadily moved up the hardware giant's value chain from making connector cables for the iPhone and Macbook to manufacturing Airpods.

Last year the company had acquired two iPhone assembly plant from Taiwan-based Wistron Corp. It is said that the move had unnerved some executives at Foxconn, the dominant maker of the handsets.