The End of Apple’s Myth? Longwell Aims for Cloud and Electric Car Markets

According to Wealth Magazine, Longwell Co. faced a turning point in its operations in 2018. The manufacturer of cables and power cords failed to make a big profit from Apple orders and even posted a loss of NT$200 million in doubtful accounts. Following the U.S.-China trade war, the Taiwan company also painfully shut down its Suzhou plant, resulting in a record low earnings per share of NT$1.14 in that year. 

Speaking of Apple, Longwell Chairman CT Lee pointed out that the cooperation never failed as long as the company strove to sell things to large customers. But when this big customer launched its smart speaker, sales were not as expected. Yet, the company had already invested a lot of resources. After this lesson, Longwell decided to adjust its strategy: no longer rely too much on a single customer. 

Longwell didn’t expect, however, that Apple would be a critical factor in the company’s entry into the electric vehicle market. Longwell worked hard to get orders from Apple, and CT Lee is confident that the company has gained many safety certifications compared to its Taiwanese counterparts. 

Longwell had all of the EVs and their charging guns set on the conference room table on the Wealth Magazine interview day. CT Lee picked up a product and said: “I can’t get enough of them these days! Customers are not only demanding safety, but they’re also not sloppy about the design.” 

So many EV start-ups have come forward in recent years because, according to CT Lee, “they were all referred to us by engineers who left Apple. These engineers left Apple and went into the electric car business. Longwell has built up a good reputation because of their long history of working with Apple, and customers come to us without advertising. 

According to Wealth Magazine, this is how ChargePoint, the world’s largest charging service operator, became a customer of Longwell. CT Lee recalled how he first met ChargePoint five years ago in a parking lot outside a coffee shop in the U.S. A few charging stations stood up, but no “cars” were on the horizon. But demand for charging stations has grown dramatically since last year when EVs started selling very well, he said. 

ChargePoint’s financial position has improved since its successful listing on the New York Stock Exchange last year, and the company is expanding its business more aggressively. 

CT Lee explained that he is now working with 5 or 6 electric vehicle manufacturers. He expressed hope to complete safety certification by the end of May and start mass production in the second half of the year. Longwell is favored by Magna, Lucid, Fisker and Rivian, and the company is also negotiating with global oil giant Shell for cooperation. 

Wealth Magazine reported that Longwell’s 5G cloud data center market is also doing well and has successfully won a large order from Amazon while enjoying charging opportunities. As the gross margin of this product line is much higher than the average level, it will be the biggest key to the gross margin rebound this year.