Foxconn on Thursday said it will build electric vehicle factories in America and Thailand next year, as Apple’s key iPhone assembler accelerates efforts to continue growth by capitalizing on the rising EV wave to offset the maturing smartphone industry.
“Our plans are to begin mass production in the U.S. and Thailand respectively in 2023,” Foxconn Chairman Young Liu told investors in an earnings call. “Other than in the U.S. and Thailand, we are also in talks with possible locations in Europe too as part of our global EV footprint strategy.”
Foxconn… is enlarging its presence in the EV industry by tapping into automobile semiconductors, key components, parts, advanced driving-related software and EV assembly.
The iPhone assembler also set up a software and hardware open platform, the MIH EV Open Platform — which includes a chassis, electronic architecture and support for autonomous driving — to shorten development time for automakers, especially EV newcomers, to turn out cars.
Foxconn has already ruled out Mexico as a location but is in negotiations with three states in the U.S. to build its first EV manufacturing plant in North America, Nikkei Asia has learned. Those include Wisconsin, which just agreed with Foxconn to amend its former plan of investing $10 billion in the state — a promise Foxconn made in 2017.
MacDailyNews Take: Driven by the strong remote work and school demand for smartphones, personal computers, etc., Foxconn said Thursday that its net profit surged 30% year-over-year to NT$29.8 billion in the June quarter, a new quarterly record for the company.