Mozilla To Reveal Foxconn-Manufactured Firefox OS Tablet On 3 June – Report

Mozilla will reportedly unveil a Firefox OS tablet next week after agreeing a partnership with Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn.

The partnership will be formally announced at an event on 3 June when the two firms will show off a new device running the open web-based operating system.

Foxconn will become the latest manufacturer or operator to partner with Mozilla, which launched the first smartphones running Firefox OS last month.

Firefox OS tablet

The firm has been searching for new clients as sales of products it assembles for the likes of Nokia, HP and Apple, including iPhones and iPads, have slowed.

Foxconn is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of consumer electronics, but it has been under constant scrutiny over labour conditions at its Chinese factories, which are believed to have contributed to a number of employee suicides since 2010.

Spanish manufacturer Geeksphone has created two Firefox OS developer handsets to allow programmers to test out their creations in a real-world environment ahead of the commercial launch of the platform later this year.

Chinese manufacturer ZTE revealed the first Firefox OS-based smartphone, the ZTE Open at Mobile World Congress in February, while outgoing Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs has confirmed smartphones running Firefox OS will launch in five countries in June, before reaching 11 more by the end of the year.

However, the UK and US will have to wait longer to get its hands on the platform, which is not surprising given Mozilla is targeting emerging markets and lower-end hardware rather than the premium smartphones favoured by the American and British markets.

Mozilla had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

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