Taiwan-based manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which unveiled three electric vehicles (EVs) on Monday, expects its EV business to generate NT$1 trillion (US$35.8 billion) in sales for the group in five years.
Speaking to reporters after the introduction of the three EV prototypes, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said that the company, known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, expects its EV business to begin generating revenue next year at the earliest.
Sales momentum is expected to pick up in 2023 and revenue could potentially reach NT$1 trillion in five years, Liu said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
At the Hon Hai Tech Day on Monday, the iPhone assembler launched three self-developed EV models: a Model C sports utility vehicle, a flagship Model E passenger car and a Model T electric bus.
The venture, named Foxtron Vehicle Technologies Co (鴻華先進), is a collaboration between Hon Hai and Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車).
Foxtron is promoting the company’s MIH Open Platform for EV development, as Hon Hai aims to transform the platform into the “Android of the electric vehicle industry” in its bid to penetrate the global EV market.
As of June, more than 1,680 companies had joined the platform, including Bosch and Continental AG — both of which manufacture automotive parts — and tech giants Microsoft Corp and Oracle Co.
The open platform is expected to provide business opportunities to the members, Liu said.
In February, Hon Hai announced that it had joined forces with Fisker Inc, a US EV maker, to build a new EV model under the US brand, with the goal of starting mass production by the fourth quarter of 2023.
While Fisker has its own EV platform, if the MIH Open Platform could provide competitive solutions in chassis production, Liu said that he expects the US brand to consider switching platforms.
The EV business is so huge that Hon Hai plans to manufacture its EVs regionally, with plants in the US, South America, Europe, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, East Asia and China, while using the common auto chassis from the platform, he said.
The diversification of manufacturing allows Hon Hai to cater to different markets and lower production costs, Liu added.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the