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Foxconn Technology Group, best known as a major assembler of Apple products such as iPhones, has launched construction of a massive global headquarters in China for its New Business Development Group as it seeks to expand into areas such as electric vehicles.
The company’s ground-breaking ceremony for the facility in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, was attended by Foxconn chairman and chief executive Liu Young-way and provincial governor Wang Kai, according to a government statement.
Zhengzhou is also the city where Foxconn operates the world’s biggest iPhone factory, nicknamed “iPhone City”.
EV ambitions
“Foxconn will integrate global technology reserves and industry chain resources, with a focus on EVs, energy storage and other emerging industries, injecting new growth power into the development of the regional economy and high-end manufacturing industry chain,” the Henan provincial government said.
Foxconn launched its diversification plan in 2019 as it seeks to expand into areas including EVs, semiconductors, robotics, artificial intelligence, 5G telecommunications and digital health.
The new headquarters, whose site was chosen in 2023, is to span 70,000 square metres and Foxconn plans to spend 1 billion yuan ($140m, £110m) to build it.
In July Foxconn launched the construction of a trial manufacturing centre for EVs in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, where the iPhone plant is based.
The company said at the time that The centre will be aimed at established domestic and foreign automakers, as Foxconn works to turn the area into a key production base for its EV segment.
Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant became known for chaotic scenes as it tried to manage a Covid-19 outbreak there in late 2022, a situation that led to delays in iPhone shipments during the key Christmas season.
Strategic shift
The incident led Apple to accelerate its move to shift some production away from China to countries including India and Vietnam.
Foxconn’s Liu said in 2023 that EV production would be regionalised, with car factories planned in the US state of Ohio, Thailand, Indonesia and perhaps India.
The company has said it wants to become the “Android platform of the EV industry” and wants to capture about 5 percent of the global EV market over the next few years.
The EV industry is highly competitive in China, where carmakers including Tesla and global EV leader BYD and have engaged in rounds of cost-cutting that have slashed their profit margins.
