The Taipei-based company, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry, will develop semiconductor design services, and semiconductor equipment and chip design in the city, according to the Zhuhai government’s website. This strategic cooperation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Terry Gou Tai-ming, the billionaire chairman and chief executive of Foxconn, said in a statement on the Zhuhai website that the development of the Greater Bay Area – a Chinese government initiative to integrate the economies of Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province – “has brought a rare opportunity for Zhuhai”, which aims to develop a semiconductor services industry.
The strategic cooperation between Foxconn, the main supplier for Apple’s iPhone, and the Zhuhai government has come several weeks after the company broke ground on its US$10 billion liquid crystal display plant in the US state of Wisconsin.
That pact represents another effort to support China’s goal in developing a strong domestic semiconductor supply chain and become more competitive with chip industry leader the US.
China makes more than 90 per cent of the world’s smartphones, 65 per cent of personal computers and 67 per cent of smart televisions, according to estimates from Bernstein Research. But the country has had to buy much of the chips that go into these devices from abroad. Annual chip imports by China have risen to more than US$200 billion since 2013 and reached US$260 billion last year.
Celia Chen
