Foxconn Betting Big On India

Amidst recent conflicts of China and with the US, India, Taiwan and other nations, the electronics manufacturing giants Foxconn recently announced big investment in India, adding to the withdrawal of businesses from China.

Crux of the Matter

Further Investment In India Foxconn is an electronics manufacturing company from Taiwan. In India, it assembles iPhones and Xiaomi phones. Recently, the company announced an investment of $1 billion for the Sriperumbudur plant, near Chennai, where iPhones are assembled.

Bye China! Foxconn plans to expand Sriperumbudur plant with $1 Billion investment: What we know#Foxconn #Apple #iPhone #iPhoneXRhttps://t.co/bGLfp9riFp — India TV (@indiatvnews) July 12, 2020

The move comes as a part of Apple’s strategy to shift its production out of China amidst the recent conflict between the US and China over Covid-19 dealing and the latter’s imposition of “draconian” security law in Hong Kong.

What Does Foxconn Do? The company manufactures and assembles electronics of several firms on contracts, and is the largest electronics manufacturing service provider of the world. The headquarters of the company are in New Taipei, Taiwan. It is the biggest assembler of Apple products and assembles electronics for Nokia, Xbox, PlayStation, Kindle, etc.

History Of Foxconn

1. The company was founded by Terry Gou in 1974, originally named Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd.

2. In 2001, in a significant deal, Intel contracted Foxconn to manufacture motherboards.

3. By 2012, 40% of the electronics in the world were manufactured by Foxconn alone.

4. Foxconn acquired a ~10% share in Sharp Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer of TVs and other electronics, in 2012. In 2016, they acquired Sharp Corporation.

Controversy in 2010-11

1. More than 18 workers of the company committed suicide in 2010-11.

2. Labor abuse and dire working conditions were cited as possible causes.

3. The problem was exacerbated in 2012 when 150+ workers threatened mass suicide if working conditions were not improved.

Curiopedia

1. Tokuji Hayakawa was a Japanese businessman and the founder of the Sharp Corporation. He invented the “Ever Ready Sharp” mechanical pencil (from which his company would later get its name) in 1915.

2. Offshoring is the relocation of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. A study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Chinese wages were almost tripled in the seven years following 2002. Research suggests that these wage increases could redirect some offshoring elsewhere.

3. The iPhone is the first smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Development of the iPhone dated back to 2005 when former Apple CEO Steve Jobs conceived the idea. The design was expanded upon over the next 2 years in complete secrecy, before being announced in 2007.

Curated Coverage

1. Times Now – Foxconn to invest $1 billion in India amid Apple’s gradual production shift from China

2. Reuters – Foxconn agrees to buy Sharp after slashing original offer

3. The New York Times – Foxconn Gets Japan Foothold With Stake in Sharp

4. BBC – Foxconn suicides: ‘Workers feel quite lonely’

5. AnandTech – The End of an Era: Intel’s Desktop Motherboard Business to Ramp Down Over Next 3 Years

#Foxconn