Foxconn, a major Taiwanese Apple Inc supplier, said on Wednesday that it is continuing production in Zhengzhou, China, which announced on Tuesday that it would impose new COVID-19-related movement restrictions from May 4 to May 10.
"Our park has maintained unchanged production," it said in a comment, referring to the industrial area in the central Chinese city where its facilities are located.
It was reported that Foxconn hopes to produce 150,000 electric vehicles (EV) in Thailand by 2030, through a joint venture that began on Feb. 7.
Horizon Plus is expected to start building an EV manufacturing plant this year, with production beginning in the first quarter of 2024. The plant's initial annual capacity will be 50,000 vehicles, to increase production to 150,000 EVs per year by 2030.
According to CNA, Foxconn signed a joint venture agreement with Thailand's state-owned oil supplier PTT Public Co. in September 2021 to form Horizon Plus Co., Ltd. Horizon Plus is 40 percent owned by Foxconn's wholly-owned subsidiary Lin Yin, and 60 percent owned by PTT's wholly-owned subsidiary Arun Plus.
Foxconn and PTT are expected to invest around US$1 billion (NT$27.83 billion) in Horizon Plus during its initial phase. Foxconn stated last year that the new plant could be built in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor, according to CNA.
According to Buranin Rattanasombat, chairman of Horizon Plus and senior VP of PTT's innovation business division, Thailand can serve as a regional production and design hub for both electric and internal combustion engine vehicles.
In a report by CNA, Rattanasombat added that the partnership will take advantage of Foxconn's advanced manufacturing capabilities to shorten development time and lower production costs.
Foxconn began construction on the site near the Tamil Nadu border two months after closing the third and final of its plants in that state in February. The Sri City plant won't be large - it'll produce about 10,000 phones per day - but Foxconn has ambitious plans for India, which could sooner or later make the country a key manufacturing base for the company on par with China.
With an original investment of around $2 billion (Rs 12,700 crore) over the next five years, the maker of iPhones and iPads for Apple and Kindles for Amazon plans to open 10-12 factories in India, each employing at least 10,000 people.
The Taiwan-based company, which has clients such as Cisco, Dell, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard, plans to manufacture smartphones, tablets, televisions, routers, set-top boxes, and printers in India, among other products.
