Chinese electronics manufacturer Longcheer Technology is betting on artificial intelligence-powered devices in the US to drive growth, underscoring the importance of the country’s consumer market despite looming uncertainty over tariffs.
“North America definitely is our focus now because the competition in China is very strong,” Shawn Zhang, general manager of Longcheer’s US business department, told Nikkei Asia in a recent interview. He expects revenue from overseas markets, including the US, to continue to grow by double-digit percentage points each year.
A key focus for Longcheer is AI-powered smart glasses, which have gained traction in the US in recent years. Smart Analytics Global expects smart glasses shipments to expand 85% this year to 15 million units, driven by Google’s entry into the market. Longcheer is already a supplier of AI glasses for the Ray-Ban Meta brand.
“We invested in this category many years ago [so that] when the demand comes, we can catch up very quickly,” Zhang said. The company has two factories in China as well as one in Vietnam, which Zhang said serves the US market and was expanded last year. He also confirmed reports that the company is considering building a factory in Malaysia but declined to comment further.
