According to a report from Economic Daily News, on the evening of August 21st, Foxconn announced plans to expand its investments, increasing capital in its subsidiaries located in the U.S., Mexico, India, and Europe. The total investment amounts to roughly USD 840 million.

First, Foxconn announced earlier that its subsidiary, Cloud Network Technology USA Inc., has acquired shares of Foxconn Assembly LLC. The transaction is valued at USD 253 million.

Sources cited by the Economic Daily News suggests that this move is looking to boost the production capacity of its plant in Houston, Texas. Foxconn currently manufactures AI servers in three locations across North America: Mexico, Wisconsin, and Texas. This indicates that Texas is gradually becoming a key hub for AI server production.

Secondly, Foxconn announced that its subsidiary, Cloud Network Technology Singapore Pte. Ltd., has acquired shares of FII AMC MEXICO S. DE R.L. DE C.V. The transaction is valued at USD 241 million.

It is speculated by the Economic Daily News that this move is primarily aimed at increasing the production capacity of Foxconn’s subsidiary, FII (Foxconn Industrial Internet), in its Mexico plant.

FII previously stated that the initial production of the GB200 servers would start in Taiwan, with the related capacity already in place.

The first overseas production line for the GB200 servers is reportedly to be set up at the Mexico plant, which is already producing AI servers, with small-scale production of the GB200 expected to begin as early as the third quarter.

Thirdly, Foxconn announced that its subsidiary, Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited, has acquired 197 million ordinary shares of Foxconn Interconnect Technology Singapore Pte. Ltd., valued at approximately EUR 180 million (roughly USD 200.53 million).

Per Economic Daily News, it is speculated that this move is related to Foxconn’s subsidiary, FIT (Foxconn Interconnect Technology), which previously announced the acquisition of shares in the German Auto-Kabel Group to strengthen its presence in the automotive electrification sector and expand its customer base.

Lastly, Foxconn announced that its subsidiary, Foxconn Singapore Pte Ltd, has acquired 1.203 billion ordinary shares of Foxconn Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development Private Limited, valued at approximately USD 144 million .

Reportedly, it is speculated that this investment aims to boost the capital of Foxconn’s Indian subsidiary.

As Foxconn is preparing for mass production of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max in India, this year marks the first time Apple is integrating AI applications (Apple Intelligence) into the latest iPhone 16 Pro series.

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• [News] Foxconn Confirms Shipment of NVIDIA’s GB200 to Start in Q4 as Planned
• [News] Foxconn Remains Unfazed Despite NVIDIA’s GB200 Delay, with Customers Aim to Secure Their Orders

(Photo credit: Foxconn)

As global competition heats up in the AI sector, an emerging power has now joining the battlefield. Ola, an automotive manufacturer in India, plans to launch the country’s first in-house AI chip by 2026, which is based on ARM architecture, according to a report by Wccftech.

Though there are more details yet to be revealed, the report notes that Ola did highlight its key chip offerings, featuring the Bodhi series, which would be the nation’s first self-developed AI chips. The company’s product lineup also reportedly includes the Sarv-1 cloud-native CPUs and the Ojas edge AI chip.

When asked about the potential foundry partners in the future, Ola’s CEO Bhavish Aggarwal mentioned that the company plans to collaborate with a global tier I or II foundry, likely TSMC or Samsung, according to the report.

Ola’s AI lineup is expected to start with the Bodhi-1 AI chip, which is specifically designed for large-scale LLMs, with a focus on inferencing workloads, Wccftech suggests. Positioned as a low-to-mid-tier offering from Ola, the chip is said to be launched by 2026, followed by a more potent successor, the Bodhi-2, slated to be released in 2028.

According to Wccftech, it is worth noting that Ola also introduced an edge AI chip named Ojas, which is likely to be integrated into Ola’s next-generation electric vehicles. In addition, the Sarv-1, specifically designed for cloud computing, is expected to feature ARM Neoverse N3 cores, though this hasn’t been confirmed yet, the report states.

As the world’s fifth largest economy, India seems to be relatively slow in developing its own AI chips. China, the world’s largest developing country, has quite a long history in developing in-house AI chips.

Chinese tech giant Huawei is said to be testing its latest processor, the “Ascend 910C,” with internet companies and telecom operators recently. Reportedly, the company has informed potential customers that this new chip is comparable to NVIDIA’s H100 GPU, which cannot be directly sold in China.

On the other hand, Baidu’s foray into AI chips can be traced back to as early as 2011. After seven years of development, Baidu officially unveiled its self-developed AI chip, Kunlun 1, in 2018. T-Head, owned by Alibaba, introduced its first high-performance AI inference chip, the HanGuang 800, in September 2019.

Read more

• [News] Huawei Rumored to Launch New High-End AI Chip, Potentially Rivaling NVIDIA’s H100
• [News] Global Semiconductor Giants Eyeing India, Anticipating Three New Fabs Valued at USD 8-12 Billion

(Photo credit: Krutrim)

Amid Apple’s intention to reduce its dependence on China and promote India as another major iPhone production hub, Indian financial media outlet Moneycontrol has revealed in a report that Apple will manufacture the iPhone 16 Pro series in India, marking the company’s first production of high-end models in the country.

According to the report citing industry sources, Apple will further expand its manufacturing plans in India. It is expected that later this year, production of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro MAX will begin at Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur plant in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu, India.

Currently, the plant is said to be entering the new product introduction (NPI) phase for the iPhone 16 Pro series. Reportedly, if all goes well, it will then proceed to the mass production stage.

At the end of last year, Foxconn announced that its Indian subsidiary would expand its plant, marking one of Foxconn’s rare significant investments in India in recent years.

At the time, some have speculated that this move was a preliminary step in conducting the iPhone 16 series NPI in India. This would be the first time in iPhone history that NPI is conducted outside of China, indicating that Apple aims to establish India as another major global iPhone production hub.

The report further indicates that this strategy is part of Apple’s supply chain diversification efforts, aiming to reduce reliance on Chinese plants and enhance manufacturing capabilities in India. Apple hopes to increase the proportion of iPhones manufactured in India from the current 14% to 25% in the coming years.

Apple began its “Make in India” initiative in 2017 by assembling the first-generation iPhone SE. Since then, Apple has gradually expanded its iPhone production in India, assembling the iPhone 6S in 2018, the iPhone 7 and XR in 2019, the iPhone 11 in 2020, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 in 2021, and the iPhone 14 in 2022.

Previously, iPhone production in India lagged behind China’s mass production by about 6 to 9 months. Last year, for the first time, Apple began producing the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus in India immediately after the iPhone launch event. This year, Apple is taking a further step by producing the high-end iPhone 16 Pro series in India.

Additionally, Apple reportedly plans to start manufacturing iPads and AirPods in India later this year, highlighting Apple’s growing focus on the Indian market.

Read more

• [News] Fuelled by AI Features, Apple’s iPhone 16 Shipments Reportedly to Increase by 10%
• [News] Apple Reportedly Doubles iPhone Production in India, while Foxconn Holds 67% Share

(Photo credit: Apple)

According to a report from global media Reuters, the Indian software company Zoho plans to invest USD 700 million in the chip manufacturing sector.

Founded in 1996 and currently headquartered in Tamil Nadu, India, Zoho provides software and related services to businesses across 150 countries.

Zoho is considering the production of compound semiconductors and is seeking incentives from the Indian government. The proposal is currently being reviewed by the committee responsible for promoting India’s chip initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Compound semiconductors are semiconductor materials composed of two or more different elements. Compared to traditional silicon (Si) semiconductors, compound semiconductors generally boast higher electron mobility, wider bandgap, and better thermal stability and radiation resistance. These properties make them suitable for applications that require high speed, high frequency, high temperature, and high efficiency. Compound semiconductor materials abound, among which silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are representatives. Currently, both materials are sought-after in consumer electronics and EV markets.

In recent years, India has actively promoted chip assembly and local production as a way of becoming a key player in global semiconductor market. The industry source points out that India’s chip initiative aims to strengthen the country’s position and competitiveness in global semiconductor industry through increased investment, international cooperation, infrastructure development, and talent cultivation.

In February 2024, India approved a semiconductor manufacturing investment plan totaling INR 1.26 trillion (USD 15.2 billion), covering wafer fabrication and chip packaging sectors, inclusive of India’s first fab, a collaboration between Tata Group and Powerchip.

The plant is expected to produce 50,000 wafers per month, covering multiple mature nodes including 28nm, 40nm, 55nm, 90nm, and 110nm. The goal is to produce 3 billion chips annually for various segments, such as high-power computing, EV, telecommunication, and power electronic.

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• [News] 12-Inch Wafer Capacity Construction Going Full Steam
• [News] PSMC Collaborates with Tata to Establish India’s First Fab

(Photo credit: iStock)

In a bid to reduce dependence on China, Apple significantly expanded its production volume in India, doubling iPhone production last year. Foxconn, which holds the largest share in iPhone assembly, accounted for a substantial 67% of this increased production.

Bloomberg reported on April 10th that Apple’s iPhone production value in India reached USD 14 billion over the last fiscal year, doubling from the previous year’s USD 7 billion. Sources cited by the same report have revealed that approximately 1 in 7 iPhones, or up to 14% of total production, are now manufactured in India. This expansion in Indian production signals Apple’s accelerated efforts to reduce reliance on China amid heightened geopolitical tensions.

Per the sources cited by the same report, nearly 67% of iPhones produced in India last year were assembled by Taiwan’s Foxconn, while Pegatron accounted for about 17%. The remaining share was manufactured at a plant in Karnataka state by Wistron, which sold the facility to Tata Group in 2023.

As per a Reuters report on April 8, contract manufacturer Pegatron was said to be in talks to sell its sole iPhone assembly plant located in Chennai to Tata Group, and discussions were in advanced stages. However, regarding this matter, Pegatron claimed that this report was speculative and lacked evidence, declining to comment further.

Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu in India, stands as the largest industrial and commercial hub in South India. Pegatron’s sole factory in India is located here, employing approximately 10,000 workers and producing around 5 million iPhones annually.

Among the four iPhone 15 series models, only certain models like iPhone15 and iPhone15 plus are produced by Tata Group in India.

Read more

• [News] Rumors of Selling Indian iPhone Assembly Plant? Pegatron Denies Media Speculation
• [News] Tata Reportedly Partners with Pegatron for iPhone Assembly in India

(Photo credit: Foxconn)