With its innovative products, a Guangdong company is speeding up the evolution of the Rubik's Cube     

Jiang Ganyuan, founder of Gancube, a tech startup based in Foshan, Guangdong province, demonstrates the internet-connected gameplay of the intelligent Rubik's Cube on Oct 29. HUO SIYING/XINHUA

Jiang Ganyuan plays with a Rubik's Cube every day.

As China's first speed-cubing champion, a title he won in 2006, Jiang is admired by many of his colleagues and staff, who are dazzled by his ability to solve the puzzle in all kinds of fancy ways. In his early 40s, he can still solve the cube in eight seconds.

"Beyond boosting imagination, it also helps improve concentration and focus," he said.

"Although the cube is still relatively niche, it has lots of potential for expansion at home and abroad, particularly the smart speed cubes," said Jiang, the mastermind behind the innovative Gancube brand.

The company, which runs its main facility in Shunde district, Foshan, Guangdong province, is focused on developing and manufacturing professional speed cubes, engineered for the competitive arena and designed to deliver ultrasmooth rotation and stable performance, allowing users to solve them more quickly and easily.

With basic models selling for around 200 yuan ($29) and the smart flagship model priced at 700 yuan, the cubes are a highly positive pastime, according to Jiang.

He recounted the story of an autistic child overseas who was largely noncommunicative before the age of 7.

His parents took him to a cube competition, where he began to talk to others while focusing on the cube, and gradually grew in confidence.

Gancube's top-of-the-range smart cubes not only record every move in real time, but also let you battle players from around the world through the company's companion app.

They also use new technology and materials, including what the company calls Omnidirectional Core Positioning Magnets — a type of minuscule maglev system — to enable smoother turns and provide a more tactile experience.

"A good cube must turn smoothly and without jams, with minimal resistance," Jiang said.

Due to the clever design and high manufacturing quality, Gancube is widely considered among enthusiasts to be the "Apple of speed cubes".

As such, when Gancube decided to form Team Gan Gurus in early 2016, which is believed to be the industry's first true speed cube team, it was able to attract the likes of Australian world record-holder Feliks Zemdegs.

Gancube also sponsored China's first cube championships in late 2015 and, in 2017, made its international debut by sponsoring that year's World Cube Championships in Paris, France.

Now, the team is mostly made up of students like Xu Ruihang from Lishui, Zhejiang province, who in 2024 broke the single Asian record for the 3x3x3 cube with a time of 3.24 seconds at the age of 16.

"I never get bored with playing with cubes," Xu said.

"The process of exploring them brings me great comfort and relaxation, which is why I love it," he added.

According to Jiang, up to 300 million cubes were sold worldwide in 2025, about 3 million of which were Gancube products — a figure Jiang said is projected to grow 25 percent in 2026. He noted that about 70 percent of his company's annual sales come from outside the Chinese mainland.

There are up to 10 million speed cube enthusiasts in China, according to Jiang, which "indicates there are only one or two cube fans in every 100 people in China".

Globally, that number stands at around 400 million.

Domestically, though, Jiang predicts the number will continue to grow, a view reflected in the fact that Gancube's products are the top-selling speed cubes on all of China's major e-commerce platforms, including Tmall and JD, as well as on overseas platforms, such as Amazon and Lazada.