Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn, a key supplier to Apple, said on Monday that it saw the potential to invest “several billion dollars” in India and that the company plans to diversify its manufacturing away from China.
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Foxconn
Foxconn – also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry – is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and assembles equipment for many companies, notably Apple’s iPhones. The company operates in more than 24 countries, but most of its operations are based in China, a dependence that is being decreased as media reports of a major investment in India.
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Chairman’s Words
“In respect of the size of the potential market in India, and if we can fully implement our plans there, I think the multibillion-dollar investment is just the beginning,” the company chairman Young Liu said when asked whether the company plans to invest $2 billion in India.
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Foxconn’s Plan
In May, the company announced it would buy a giant plot of land on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India’s technology hub, for $37 million. According to Liu, it currently has about nine manufacturing campuses and more than 30 factories in India with an annual business revenue of about $10 billion.
The company plans to expand its operations in India into “critical components” for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, he said, without elaborating.
“Delivery of (critical components) will probably have to wait until next year, but construction has already started this year,” Liu said, adding that operations will take place in three Indian states.
Foxconn pulled out of a $19.4 billion deal with India’s Vedanta to manufacture semiconductors in the state of Gujarat, previous month. This deals a blow to New Delhi’s plan to increase self-sufficiency in the technology supply chain.
Foxconn’s second-quarter net profit fell 1 percent on Monday, while revenue fell 14 percent year-on-year to 1.3 trillion Taiwan dollars ($40.8 billion), a sign of weakening global electronics markets amid the recession.