Hon Hai is racing ahead with an initial public offering of its automated factory division that may become China’s biggest debut since the 2015 stock market crash, according to Bloomberg.
Foxconn Industrial Internet, a unit of Apple’s most important assembly partner, won approval to list in Shanghai about a month after publishing a prospectus that outlined plans to spend 27.3 billion yuan ($4 billion) on expansions into cutting-edge technology. That speed underscores the anticipation around the Taiwanese company that embodies billionaire Terry Gou’s ambition of moving beyond assembling PCs and phones for the world’s top electronic brands.
Known as FII, the business could command a valuation of as much as 400 billion yuan by some estimates, on par with Sony. With sales of 355 billion yuan in 2017, its revenue is about the same as Walt Disney or HP. The fundraising could be the 11th largest on the mainland and would be one of the highest-profile tech listings in Shenzhen or Shanghai in years.
Foxconn, which makes smartphones, cloud computing equipment and robots, wants the 27 billion yuan to fund projects including artificial intelligence and fifth-generation wireless technologies, positioning Hon Hai even more centrally in the tech supply chain. Foxconn representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment. Beijing has introduced plans to welcome Taiwanese investment in some of the nation’s most restricted sectors, though pro-independence Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has warned that such moves could suck away much-needed capital.
Foxconn’s debut also dovetails with an effort to bring tech listings back to the mainland. Chinese enterprises have long pursued the prestige and capital associated with marquee overseas debuts. But technology businesses from Alibaba to Tencent have in recent years outstripped their old-economy peers to become the nation’s largest, and virtually none are traded domestically.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has initiated a formal investigation into Apple, Samsung, and Google regarding allegations that the companies have utilized patented audio technology without authorization.
SES has outlined strategic plans to establish direct-to-device (D2D) satellite manufacturing capabilities and a specialized supply chain within Europe in partnership with Elveo Mobile.
Automated systems and bots now generate more than half of internet traffic, forcing hosting companies to manage performance, security, and infrastructure costs at the same time. Ivan Čačija argues that business users are no longer buying only storage and computing resources, but the availability and performance of their own operations. AI will reshape both data-centre management and infrastructure requirements, while regional providers can compete through local presence, predictable costs and hybrid models. Fastserver sees its partnership with Blackwall as part of a broader shift towards an integrated platform combining infrastructure, security, traffic protection and automation.
