HK Stock Concept Tracker | Apple Intelligence approved in China; Cook says beta to launch by end of October; watch Apple supply chain investment opportunities (with concept stocks)

Title context: HK Stock Concept Tracker | Apple Intelligence approved in China; Cook says beta to launch by end of October; watch Apple supply chain investment opportunities (with concept stocks) Text: On October 15, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) Executive Chairman of the Board Tim Cook visited Shanghai and accepted a media interview. When discussing issues related to Apple Intelligence, Cook said that a beta version of Apple Intelligence will be released in China by the end of October and will integrate Alibaba's Qwen large model. Apple Intelligence includes features such as real-time translation, writing tools, and photo cleanup tools, but Siri AI is not included this time. Previously, Apple Inc. launched the personal intelligence system Apple Intelligence in June 2024. It is integrated into devices such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac and, through a combination of on-device models and cloud models, provides users with AI functions such as writing, image generation, and Siri upgrades. However, after Apple Intelligence was released, it was long not approved for use in China. It was not until July this year that Apple Intelligence finally made substantive progress. In July this year, the "CAC China" public account published an announcement on seven generative AI services for mobile device-side use that had completed filing information. Among them, Apple Technology Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.'s "Apple Intelligence" large model was filed on July 8, 2026, with the applicable scenario being Apple Inc. mobile phones. On October 14, the latest public notice from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on telecommunications equipment network access licenses showed that Apple Inc.'s first foldable-screen phone, iPhone Duo (China model A3721), completed the network access license renewal on September 29, and the filing numbers for the large models equipped on the device were added to the license documents. A total of three large models were newly filed this time, with corresponding filing numbers Shanghai-AppleZhiNeng-202506160057, Shanghai-TongYiWanXiang-202410090024, and ZheJiang-TongYiQianWen-20230901, corresponding respectively to Apple Intelligence, Tongyi Wanxiang, and Tongyi Qianwen. The implementation of this large model filing is regarded as a key step for Apple Inc. in advancing AI functions in the Chinese market. It is worth mentioning that the implementation of AI functions on Apple Inc. mobile phones lags domestic phones by nearly three years overall. As early as November 2023, various domestic-brand phones equipped with AI large models were already successively launched and sold. Today, the development of AI phones in the mobile phone industry has moved from the exploratory 1.0 era into the 2.0 era. Mobile phone companies are focusing on building AI agent ecosystems and deeply exploring users' AI usage scenarios, and the focus of industry competition has shifted from the previous comparison of single-point AI functions to a contest of systemic capabilities such as AI ecosystems, systems, scenarios, and functions. The Apple Inc. concept, also known as the Apple Inc. industrial chain or "fruit chain," refers to the group of A-share listed companies that provide components, materials, contract manufacturing, and assembly services to Apple Inc., covering multiple segments such as chips, screens, acoustics, optics, structural parts, heat dissipation, batteries, and PCBs. As Apple Intelligence is scheduled to enter China, on-device AI is becoming a new growth pivot for the fruit chain. AI phones place higher demands on segments such as computing power, memory, heat dissipation, acoustics, and optics, driving a systematic increase in supply chain value. "Driven jointly by three factors - mobile phone function innovation, appearance upgrades, and the replacement cycle - Apple Inc. mobile phones are expected to usher in a new replacement cycle. Combined with the ecosystem layout of Apple Inc. AI, the Apple Inc. industrial chain is expected to continue exceeding expectations over the next three years," said China Galaxy Securities. According to IDC forecasts, global GenAI phone shipments will reach 432 million units in 2026. Sealand believes that AI hardware is expected to ship at scale, and the on-device AI narrative is becoming increasingly clear. "Regarding AI phones, we are especially optimistic about the Apple Inc. industrial chain. Improvements in computing power and running memory are the main logic, driving iteration in PCBs, heat dissipation, batteries, acoustics, and optics," Sinolink further pointed out. Related concept stocks: SUNNY OPTICAL (02382): A globally leading supplier of optical lenses, mobile phone camera modules, and automotive lenses. It provides high-end camera modules and optical lenses for iPhone, iPad, and Mac and is a core supplier of Apple Inc.'s imaging system. In early September, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. released a research report stating that SUNNY OPTICAL's (02382) mobile phone camera modules are evolving toward high-endization, driving the company's revenue growth and gross margin expansion while meeting the requirements of brand customers. The bank is optimistic about Sunny Optical's long-term potential in areas such as AI edge devices, AI/AR glasses, and action/360-degree cameras, but considering the saturation of the smartphone market and the currently reasonable valuation, it raised the target price from HK$82.3 to HK$83.3. Q TECH (01478): Focuses on mobile phone camera modules, fingerprint recognition modules, and automotive imaging systems. It supplies mid- to low-end camera modules for iPhone and is deeply tied to Apple Inc.'s mid-range model supply chain. Q TECH (01478) announced the main product sales volume for August 2026 for the group and its joint venture Kunshan Q Tech Microelectronics (India) Private Limited (Q Technology India). Mobile phone product sales volume was 51.152 million units, up 9.8% month-on-month and down 21.3% year-on-year; among them, camera module sales volume was 37.846 million units, up 5.3% month-on-month and down 14.9% year-on-year; biometric module sales volume was 13.306 million units, up 25.0% month-on-month and down 35.3% year-on-year. Automotive product sales volume was 890,000 units, up 7.4% month-on-month and up 33.0% year-on-year. IoT product sales volume was 2.37 million units, up 30.4% month-on-month and up 20.7% year-on-year. AAC TECH (02018): A global acoustics leader, providing speakers, receivers, microphones, linear motors, and RF devices. It is a core supplier of acoustic components for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and AirPods and exclusively supplies some high-end linear motors. On September 9, AAC AAC TECH (02018) exhibited for the first time at CIOE China Optoelectronic Expo its CPO high-precision microlens array (MLA) series products based on WLG wafer-level glass molding technology. The products target the high-end optical communications market and are expected to enter mass production in the second half of 2027. COWELL (01415): A core supplier of Apple Inc. camera modules, structural parts, and acoustic components. Lens Technology (06613): Lens Technology stated on an investor interaction platform that the company has achieved deep layout around emerging strategic tracks on the AI computing power side. In the server structural parts direction, the Songshan Lake park has completed capacity expansion, and liquid cooling modules, high-end precision cabinets, and optical communications high-speed interconnect supporting components have successively passed testing by leading computing power manufacturers and are entering the mass production ramp-up. In the server storage field, the company has formed a storage layout driven by both SSDs and HDDs. Separately, according to Jiemian News, people related to the industrial chain learned that Apple Inc.'s first foldable phone, iPhone DUO, uses customized nano-texture UTG glass for its inner screen, which can reduce crease visibility, and the nano-texture glass is exclusively developed by Lens Technology. Lens Technology also recently mentioned in institutional research that, in the major customer's foldable phone project, the company fully supplies core components such as UTG glass, CPI film, UTG glass support plates, and 3D glass cover plates.