Zhou Qunfei has one of the most remarkable self-made success stories in the global technology industry. Born into poverty in rural China, she left school as a teenager and worked in factories grinding watch glass to support her family. Decades later, she became the founder of Lens Technology, a company now valued at roughly $26 billion. Zhou recently drew global attention after being seated alongside Elon Musk and Tim Cook at a high-profile state banquet in Beijing attended by Chinese and American business leaders.
Zhou Qunfei’s journey from factory worker to a $26 billion company
Zhou was born in 1970 in Hunan province to a poor family. Her mother died when she was five years old, while her father became partially blind and disabled after a workplace accident. Financial hardship forced Zhou to leave school at 15 and move to Guangdong to work in factories producing watch components and glass products.She reportedly spent her days working on assembly lines grinding glass while studying accounting, computer operations and other technical skills at night. Those years helped shape the discipline and technical expertise that later defined her business career.In 1993, Zhou used savings of around 20,000 yuan and support from relatives to launch a small workshop in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district. The business initially focused on watch-glass printing and processing. Zhou personally handled machine repairs, production management and sales during the company’s early years.As China’s mobile-phone industry expanded in the early 2000s, the workshop secured orders for phone screens from domestic manufacturers including TCL Technology. Zhou recognised the huge potential of mobile-phone glass and established Lens Technology to focus on manufacturing and research for phone screens.A major breakthrough came when the company pursued contracts from international brands including Motorola. Lens reportedly invested heavily to meet Motorola’s strict quality standards and later supplied glass for the Motorola Razr V3, one of the world’s best-selling mobile phones at the time. The success helped Lens secure further partnerships with Nokia and Samsung.
The Apple partnership that transformed the company
The biggest turning point for Lens Technology arrived in 2007 when Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone. Apple needed durable, high-quality touchscreen glass, and Lens Technology became one of its key suppliers after working closely with Apple engineers to mass-produce glass panels for the device.As iPhone sales exploded globally, Apple became Lens Technology’s largest customer, accounting for more than half of the company’s annual revenue during the early 2010s. Lens later expanded its role within Apple’s supply chain by producing components for iPads, MacBooks and other products.The partnership transformed Lens Technology into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of touchscreen glass and consumer-electronics components. The company was later listed on Shenzhen’s ChiNext Index in 2015, helping Zhou become one of China’s richest self-made women. Lens also completed a Hong Kong listing in 2025.Zhou attracted global attention after appearing between Musk and Cook at a state banquet hosted by Xi Jinping during the China visit of Donald Trump. Several leading Chinese executives attended the dinner alongside American business leaders and officials. Over the past decade, the company has expanded beyond smartphones into smart vehicles, AI hardware, robotics, wearable devices and aerospace-related manufacturing.Lens Technology now supplies smart cockpit systems, exterior structural parts and advanced glass products to automakers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Li Auto. The company has also been linked by investors to projects connected to Tesla’s Optimus robot programme and SpaceX because of its work in robotics and aerospace manufacturing.
Lens Technology’s push into AI and robotics
Lens Technology is now attempting to reposition itself from a smartphone-component supplier into what it describes as a “one-stop precision manufacturing solutions provider” for the AI hardware industry. Its businesses now span AI glasses, smart vehicles, embodied intelligence, wearable devices and commercial aerospace.In December, the company stated on an investor platform that it had worked for nearly a decade with a “major North American customer” across smart cockpits, humanoid robots and aerospace-related products. Lens also said it had developed ultra-thin photovoltaic glass modules and flexible glass products designed for space applications.Lens Technology’s market value recently reached around 180.6 billion yuan, or roughly $26.6 billion. Last year, the company reported annual revenue of 74.4 billion yuan, while net profit rose 10.9% to 4 billion yuan. Smartphones and computers remained its largest business segment, generating more than 61 billion yuan in revenue.Zhou’s rise from factory worker to billionaire entrepreneur has made her one of the most recognisable figures in China’s technology industry.
