hon hai

One of Apple's key suppliers has beaten the company to the punch with its own smartwatch.

At its shareholders meeting on Wednesday, Foxconn, aka Hon Hai, demoed a smartwatch that can wirelessly connect to an iPhone to display incoming phone calls and Facebook posts, Want China Times has reported. The watch can also keep track of your heartbeat, respiration, and other vital signs. And if your vitals aren't tip-top, the device can even offer advice on how to get them up to snuff.… Read more

Hon Hai Precision Industry, which operates under the Foxconn brand, will generate higher profits this year, the company's chairman and CEO said on Wednesday.

Speaking to shareholders at his company's annual meeting in Taipei, Terry Gou guaranteed that Hon Hai's profits this year "will surpass last year's" and added that growth will hit 15 percent year over year.

There has been some concern over Hon Hai's performance as analysts have predicted that iPhone and iPad shipments will stall, leading to Hon Hai generating less revenue. However, the company thinks it can overcome declining … Read more

Hon Hai Precision Industry is considering chopping the part of its business that gave Foxconn its name.

Hon Hai is planning to spin off its Network Interconnection Business Group next month, Reuters reported Thursday, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. The business group makes connectors and cables for the PC industry, but due to the recent downturn in the PC market, has become a big of a drain on Hon Hai's otherwise strong operation.

At one time, the connector business was such an integral component in Hon Hai's business that it helped form its … Read more

Hon Hai is trying to expand beyond its role as a parts supplier to tech companies by devoting more research into display panels.

The company announced today that it will set up a new R&D center in Japan to focus on display and touch panels, according to Reuters. Any new technologies created at the center will be used for consumer, commercial, and medical products, Hon Hai said.

The new Japanese center will mark the company's third R&D facility in Asia, following one in Taiwan and another in China. Hon Hai said it plans to consolidate … Read more

Microsoft has struck a patent-licensing agreement with Hon Hai, parent company of Foxconn, that protects the company from being sued by the software giant over devices it makes that run Google's Android and Chrome operating systems.

Hon Hai will pay Microsoft unspecified royalties in exchange for "broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio," the companies announced this evening.

Microsoft has long argued that Chrome and Android infringe on its patented technology in areas ranging from the user interface to the underlying operating system. However, rather than going after Google for patent violations, Microsoft has targeted device makers, … Read more

Foxconn International Holdings, another manufacturing division at Hon Hai that hasn't reached the same success as Foxconn Technology Group, is getting a new chairman.

The company's board of directors announced (PDF) today that Samuel Chin, its current executive director and chairman, will retire on January 1 to spend more time with his family. Tong Wen-hsin, another company director, will replace Chin as chairman. However, Chin will stay on an adviser to the chairman for 12 months.

"The company would like to take this opportunity to express its gratitude to Mr. Chin for his valuable contribution to the … Read more

Still waiting for an iPhone 5? Apple's own supplier offers a reason why.

An unnamed official with Hon Hai, aka Foxconn, told the Wall Street Journal that the design process of making the new phone light and thin is "very complicated." Calling the iPhone 5 "the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled," the official said that factory employees are still learning how to build the phone.

But he offered a note of optimism by saying that workers are getting better at assembling the phone. "Practice makes perfect," he told the Journal.… Read more

Hon Hai Precision Industry, the Apple supplier better known as Foxconn, couldn't reach a final agreement to acquire a stake in Sharp, according to a new report.

Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou met with Sharp in Japan recently to try to hammer out a deal that would see his manufacturing company take a minority stake in Sharp. However, according to Reuters, which cited reports out of Japan, the companies could not reach an agreement.

Under terms of the so-far failed deal, Hon Hai would have become Sharp's largest shareholder.

The companies revealed in March that Hon Hai would … Read more

Sharp is in desperate need of some cash. And it's trying to find any opportunity to raise some.

The company is considering selling two TV assembly plants in Mexico and China, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing sources. The company is considering selling the plants to manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry -- better known as Foxconn -- or to a joint venture called Sharp Display Products Corp. run by Sharp and Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou, according to the Journal.

If Sharp sells the facilities, the company would shed 3,000 employees from its workforce, helping it to … Read more