Taiwan’s contract electronics manufacturing giant deepens its commitment to electric cars as it fights outbreaks of Covid-19 among its affiliates
(AF) Foxconn, Taiwan’s contract electronics manufacturing giant, said a subsidiary has invested $36 million in a solar-cell manufacturer to develop electric vehicle (EV) battery components.
The investment was made via a private placement through a Taiwan-based subsidiary that will make it the second-largest shareholder in Gigasolar. The two companies will jointly develop materials for EVs, Foxconn said in a statement on Tuesday.
Foxconn has identified EVs as a key new business and has struck several deals with companies, including Italian carmaker Stellantis and Thailand’s state-run energy group PTT.
The Taiwanese company aims to provide components or services to 10% of the world’s electric cars by 2025 to 2027, Foxconn chairman Liu Young-way said in October 2020.
He has vowed to lower manufacturing and other costs with its assembling know-how as the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer.
PRODUCTION DISRUPTED
Meanwhile, Foxconn has been battling to control outbreaks of Covid-19 at its factories and affiliates. Production at Foxsemicon, a semiconductor equipment maker affiliated with Foxconn, has been disrupted.
The spread of Covid-19 into Taiwan’s electronics factories is threatening to delay semiconductor shipments, according to companies and analysts, raising the prospect of renewed disruption to an industry gripped by a global shortage.
An outbreak among migrant workers has also hit chip packager Greatek and telecoms gear producer Accton.
Taiwan continues to report triple-digit totals of daily new Covid-19 cases. On Tuesday, the Central Epidemic Command Centre announced 135 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, all but three locally transmitted.
The country has recorded more than 11,000 cases and 260 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
With reporting by Reuters
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