Foxconn

Terry Gou established Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. as an electrical components manufacturer in 1974 in Taipei County, Taiwan Province. Foxconn's first manufacturing plant in Communist-governed Mainland China opened in Longhua Town, Shenzhen in 1988.One of the important milestones for Foxconn occurred in 2001 when Intel selected the company to manufacture its Intel-branded motherboards instead of Asus. By November 2007, Foxconn further expanded with an announced plan to build a new US$500 million plant in Huizhou, Southern China.In January 2012, Foxconn named Tien Chong Cheng chief executive of its subsidiary FIH Mobile Limited. He resigned the same year, citing health problems. At this time, Foxconn made up approximately 40% of worldwide consumer electronics production.Expansion was further pursued after a March 2012 acquisition of a 10-percent stake in the Japanese electronics company Sharp Corporation for US$806 million and to purchase up to 50 percent of the LCDs produced at Sharp's plant in Sakai, Japan. However, the agreed deal was broken as Sharp's shares continued to plunge in the following months. In September 2012, Foxconn announced plans to invest US$494 million in the construction of five new factories in Itu, Brazil, creating 10,000 jobs.In 2014, the company purchased Asia Pacific Telecom and won some spectrum licenses at an auction, which allowed it to operate 4G telecommunications equipment in Taiwan.On 25 February 2016, Sharp accepted a ¥700 billion takeover bid from Foxconn to acquire over 66 percent of Sharp's voting stock. However, as Sharp had undisclosed liabilities which was later informed by Sharp's legal representative to Foxconn, the deal was halted by Foxconn's board of directors. Foxconn asked to call off the deal, but it was proceeded by the former Sharp president. Terry Gou, in the meeting, then wrote the word "?," which means "righteousness," on the whiteboard, saying that Foxconn should honor the deal. A month later, on 30 March 2016, the deal was announced as finalized in a joint press statement, but at a lower price.In 2016, Foxconn, together with Tencent and luxury-car dealer Harmony New Energy Auto, founded Future Mobility, a car start up that aimed to sell all-electric fully autonomous premium cars by 2020. A Foxconn unit, Foxconn Interconnect Technology, acquired Belkin International for $866m on 26 March 2018.In July 2019, Foxconn appointed Liu, Young-Way as the new chairman of the Group, which was then ranked 25th among Forbes Top 100 Digital Companies. Soon afterward, Foxconn, led by Young Liu, introduced its “3+3 Model for Transformation, prioritizing the three key industries: electric vehicles, digital health, and robotics industries. The Group is also committed to developing artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and next-generation communication technologies, building blocks in the Group's technology strategy.

In 2020, Foxconn established “Hon Hai Research Institute,” with five research centers, each having an average of 40 high technology R&D professionals, all of whom are focused on the research and development of new technologies, the strengthening of Foxconn’s technology, and product innovation pipeline, efforts to support the Group’s transformation from “brawn” to “brains,” and the enhancement of the competitiveness of Foxconn’s “3+3” strategy.

Foxconn’s 2020 revenue was NT$5.36 trillion . Circuits Assembly magazine named Foxconn the largest electronics manufacturing services company in the world for the 14th straight year.On 5 February 2020, Foxconn started producing medical masks and clothing at its Shenzhen factory in China during the Chinese New Year and the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company initially said the masks it makes would be for internal employee use. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 led to a worldwide spike in demand for masks, resulting in global shortages. In a letter to employees, Chairman Young Liu said, "I remember clearly how touching it was when Longhua Park produced our first mask at 4:41am on 5 February. It was the simplest yet most important product Foxconn has ever made. It not only supplied the group's need for epidemic prevention it also contributed to the general public and boosted the morale of the group. All that resulted from our colleagues' hard work."

Following almost a year of public controversy regarding its COVID-19 vaccine shortage; in June 2021, Taiwan agreed to allow founder Terry Gou, through his Yongling Foundation charity, to join with contract chip maker TSMC, and negotiate purchasing COVID-19 vaccines on its behalf. In July 2021, BioNTech's Chinese sales agent Fosun Pharma announced that Foxconn and TSMC had reached an agreement to purchase 10 million BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines from Germany for Taiwan. The two technology manufacturers pledged to each buy five million doses for up to $175 million, for donation to Taiwan's vaccination program.In 2020, Foxconn initiated MIH Alliance to create an open EV ecosystem that promotes collaboration in the mobility industry, with more than 2,200 companies joining the open standard since its launch. The company announced plans to become more involved as a contract assembler of EVs. In the same year, Foxconn partnered with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Yulon Group for a move into EVs. Foxconn has been holding the Hon Hai Tech Day event since 2020 to showcase its latest achievements. In HHTD21, Foxconn introduced for the first time three self-developed EV models: the Model C recreational vehicle, the Model E sedan, and the Model T electric bus.

In January 2021, Foxconn and Geely Holding Group signed a strategic cooperative agreement and will establish a joint venture company to provide OEM and customized consulting services relating to whole vehicles, parts, intelligent drive systems, and automotive ecosystem platforms to global automotive enterprises and ridesharing companies. In February 2021, it announced an agreement with EV startup Fisker Inc. to jointly produce more than 250,000 vehicles a year. In March 2021, Foxtron, the JV company of Foxconn and Yulon, announced cooperation with Nidec to strengthen the power on EV key component development.

In July 2021, Foxconn teamed up with CTBC Financial Holding Co., Ltd to create a new fund targeting EV investments. In June 2021, Foxconn invested T$995.2 million in Gigasolar Materials Corp to develop EV battery materials. In September 2021, Foxconn collaborated with Thailand’s state-owned oil supplier PTT Public Co. to invest US$1–2 billion in launching an EV joint venture in Thailand. In the same month, Foxconn and Gogoro formed a strategic technology and manufacturing partnership to introduce new levels of manufacturing capabilities and scale for Gogoro battery swapping technologies and Smart Scooters. In October 2021, it agreed to purchase a former GM auto plant from Lordstown Motors and to purchase $50 million of the company's common stock. Under the agreement, Foxconn would use the plant to produce Lordstown's Endurance pickup truck. Fisker vehicles would also be made at the same plant.In January 2022, Foxconn signed an MoU with the Indonesian Ministry of Investment/BKPM, IBC, Indika, and Gogoro to jointly develop a sustainable new energy ecosystem in Indonesia that focuses on electric batteries, electric mobility, and associated industries. In May 2022, Foxconn announced the completion of the Lordstown Motors facility purchase and further signed a contract manufacturing agreement and a joint venture agreement with LMC for product development.

In mid-2021, Foxconn announced that the company will enter into more semiconductor production and will be expanding into supplying chips for electric vehicles and electronics equipment used for healthcare. In May 2021, Foxconn and Yageo Group entered into a joint venture agreement to form XSemi Corporation to extend the businesses into the semiconductor industry, including product development and sales. Based in Hsinchu, Taiwan, XSemi aims to consolidate the strengths and resources of the two market leaders, in addition to the upcoming multifaceted collaborations with leading semiconductor companies in product design, process and capacity planning, and sales channel. In August 2021, Foxconn acquired a Macronix 6-inch Wafer Fab for US$90.8mn. In February 2022, Foxconn formed a joint venture company with Vedanta Limited, one of India’s leading multinational groups, to manufacture semiconductors in India. In April 2022, it was announced Foxconn had acquired the wireless telecommunications company, arQana Technologies - with the new organization being rebranded as “iCana". Foxconn also announced a merger with the integrated circuit designing firm AchernarTek for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition and consolidation will help Foxconn develop semiconductors for the automotive sector and 5G infrastructure.In September 2022, Foxtron, the automotive division of Foxconn works with Luxgen to launch its first electric vehicle, Luxgen n7.