FIH Mobile Ltd (富智康), a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary 62.8 percent owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday said it would expand its production capacity in India and Vietnam to assuage the effects of trade friction between the US and China.
In an internal report, the cellphone assembler said it has had operations in Vietnam since it purchased a factory there in 2016 and many of its clients are planning to seek its services in the Southeast Asian country at a time of escalating trade friction between Washington and Beijing.
FIH Mobile has also operated cellphone assembly lines in India for several years and it is to continue reviewing its global resource allocations to meet client demand.
In the first half of this year, the Indian market accounted for about 31 percent of FIH Mobile’s total sales of US$6.39 billion, which were down 2.65 percent from a year earlier.
In addition to the positive export prospects for its India facility, FIH said it is upbeat about domestic demand in the South Asian nation and it would expand its supply of electronic components and services there.
FIH Mobile manufactures products for non-Apple Inc brands, such as Xiaomi Corp (小米), Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) and Huawei Technologies Co (華為), and runs a broad production base in China.
Hon Hai is the most important iPhone assembler for Apple and has extensive China operations.
US President Donald Trump this month said that the US is to impose 10 percent tariffs on an additional US$300 billion of Chinese goods and that the new tariffs, scheduled to take effect on Sept. 1, would cover smartphones, including iPhones, made in China.
Last week, Trump said that the US is not ready to reach an agreement with Beijing and that his country would not do business with Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
In the first half of this year, FIH incurred US$84.08 million in net losses, compared with a net loss of US$348 million in the same period last year.
The improving bottom line largely reflected its efforts to adjust its cooperation model with HMD Global Oy, which has reduced pressure on its profit margin, FIH said.
Its top five clients, which include HMD Global and Japan’s Sharp Corp, accounted for 89.6 percent of FIH Mobile’s total revenue in the first six months of the year.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI