Apple Supplier Foxconn Plans New Display Facility in Taiwan

Taiwan's tech giant Hon Hai said Thursday it plans to invest around TWD 80 billion ($2.6 billion, roughly Rs. 16,149 crores) for a new smartphone display facility on the island, reportedly to manufacture mainly Apple products.

Hon Hai founder Terry Gou said the company and its unit, flat-panel maker Innolux Corp., will jointly invest in the facility in southern Kaohsiung city which will produce displays used in smartphones.

"We hope to make mobile phones here. Innolux is lacking in the area of small and medium-sized panels ... The total amount is around TWD 80 billion but could go up to TWD 100 billion," Gou said in comments aired by local television.

The Taipei-based China Times and Economic Daily News reported that the facility will mainly manufacture Apple products such as iPhones.

Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, is the world's largest computer components manufacturer and assembles products for Apple including the iPhone series as well as Sony and Nokia.

The company reported last week that net profit in the third quarter rose 11 percent year-on-year to TWD 34.09 billion, while revenue was up 3.4 percent on-year to TWD 950.49 billion.

Nearly half of Hon Hai's revenue is generated by orders from Apple, which said last month it sold 39.3 million iPhones in the three months ending September 27, up 16 percent from the same period a year earlier.