Varta, the iconic German battery manufacturer founded in 1887, filed for insolvency in July after years of mounting financial losses, dealing a heavy blow to the town of Ellwangen (a municipality of 24,500 people in the Baden-Württemberg state of southwestern Germany), where roughly 1,000 of the company's 2,300 German employees work. The collapse was triggered in part by Apple's decision to shift its battery supply contracts for wireless earphones to cheaper Chinese producers, forcing the closure of a dedicated Varta factory in nearby Nördlingen and leaving the company without access to credit — despite having received €300 million in public funding in 2020 to secure that Apple business. A court-appointed administrator is now managing the company's future amid multiple acquisition offers, though residents and the IG Metall trade union have expressed alarm at the prospect of a Chinese buyer, fearing the loss of proprietary technology and skilled jobs that underpin Germany's broader industrial base.