NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan – Foxconn’s leading iPhone collector says the first electric vehicles built using the company’s open software and hardware platform will be released by the end of this year.
“This year marks an important year for Foxconn’s EV efforts. Two or three EV models will use the design of our MIH platform in the fourth quarter of this year,” Foxconn Chairman Young Liu told reporters at a keynote the company’s office in New Taipei City on Saturday.
Foxconn is pledging on its open platform, called MIH, to drive growth in its electric vehicle business as the company seeks new sources of revenue to counter the slow industry of smartphones. The custom platform – which includes chassis, electronic architecture and support for autonomous driving – is designed to turn the time and resources required by new electric car manufacturers out. Foxconn has been inviting suppliers across a range of industries to join the MIH-based alliance, which it founded in October last year. To date, the alliance has attracted more than 700 companies from around the world, including Qualcomm, MediaTek, Army, AWS and STMicroelectronics, according to Foxconn.
Foxconn will host the first MIH alliance conference next month. Members will discuss plans for the organization, Liu said.
He said the first three EV models based on the MIH platform will include an electric bus and two passenger vehicles for the Taiwanese and Chinese markets.
At the same time, Foxconn’s joint venture with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group with Faraday Future Geely and Chinese EV will work on possible plans for EV development, he said.
“People’s interests and commitment to the EV industry are rising,” Liu said. “I think the entire EV industry will take off in 2024, a year earlier than my previous estimate, as many players will launch their electric vehicles that year.” Foxconn’s goal for 10 % of global EVs using its MIH platform design by 2025 remains unchanged, Liu said.
Apple’s automotive supplier business, which is currently heavily focused on components, posted about $ 9.5 billion New Taiwan dollars ($ 340 million) in sales in 2019, which is a small slice of total Foxconn’s annual report of more than NT $ 5 trillion in 2019 and 2020. Liu said the EV-related business is expected to start making a meaningful revenue contribution to the company from 2023.
Liu, who became chairman of Foxconn in June 2019, has been helping the electronics manufacturing giant contract to identify new long-term growth drivers. Electronic vehicles, semiconductors, servers and key components are among the areas that Foxconn prioritises for investment.
Foxconn has been expanding significantly in the EV industry over the past year. It has partnered with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to develop electric vehicles for the Chinese market, a joint venture with Yulon Group, Taiwan’s second largest automaker after Hotai Motor, to develop electric cars, and co another venture by Geely, China’s largest private company automotive group.
The iPhone collector earlier this year forged links to the complex Chinese startup Byton. The Taiwanese company will send people to the Byton factory, offering supply chain management and operational support to the startup to help it get its production plans back on track after financial shocks cause Byton to stop put into operation in July last year.