Robots are to be the focus of the Hon Hai Group’s (鴻海) strategic development, and the company is to focus on Internet of Everything (IoT) key technologies, the group’s chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said.
In an interview with Chinese media on Tuesday, Gou said that the introduction of “industrial robots” to the manufacturing sector was an irreversible trend, but would not reduce the number of workers employed in factories.
He said robots are the focus of the company’s strategic development and that Hon Hai, also known as the Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), would take robotic services internationally in cooperation with China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) and Japan’s SoftBank.
Gou made the remarks prior to attending yesterday’s World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province.
The theme of the event is “An Interconnected World Shared and Governed by All — Building a Cyberspace Community of Shared Destiny.”
Hon Hai, the world’s largest electronics manufacturing services provider, reached an agreement in mid-June with SoftBank and Alibaba to invest in SoftBank Robotics Holdings Corp.
An initial batch of Pepper robots, developed by SoftBank and manufactured by Hon Hai in its Shandong plant in China, sold out in one minute in June.
Hon Hai has also produced industrial robotic arms and 48,000 have been installed in Hon Hai plants, including more than 2,000 self-developed mechanical arms in the company’s Kunshan factory.
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