Zeroing in on multiple business opportunities associated with IoT (Internet of Things) applications, Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is quietly proceeding with deployments in diverse IoT application fields beyond launching the IPO for its IoT subsidiary Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to industry sources.
Since gaining China regulatory approval for FII listing in mid-March 2018, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou has repeatedly aired his views on how the industrial Internets will combine physical production and digital economy to change the world, as a warm-up for the listing probably in late May.
But while FII is playing an iconic role in Foxconn's industrial IoT (IIoT) platform, the group has also quietly made investments in the sectors of smart living, smart office and other smart industrial ecosystems associated with IoT platforms, and has acquired or set up business entities to handle related operations, the sources said.
For instance, in May 2015, Foxconn purchased 88% of Hong Kong-based Maxnerva Technology Services to provide end-to-end information technology services and IoT solutions by integrating IT services, big production data and abundant manufacturing experiences accumulated by the world's largest EMS provider.
The sources continued that there are many units similar to Maxnerva in the entire Foxconn group. As long as IoT-based healthcare, home living, retail, hotel or other applications and environments emerge, Foxconn is very likely to soon have corresponding iconic arms emerge and go public like FII, so as to create the overall market value of the Foxconn group, the sources indicated.
Article translated by Willis Ke
