Foxconn Engineering Team , the world’s major electronics contract producer, reported that it would obtain a semiconductor producing facility, having the company deeper into the chip enterprise at a time of unprecedented international pressure.
Foxconn, finest regarded as the premier assembler of Apple Inc. iPhones, claimed Thursday that it would acquire the Taiwan-dependent plant, which manufactures 6-inch wafers applied in vehicles, a purchase that it mentioned would help safe a continuous source of car chips as Foxconn expands even more into the electric powered-automobile industry.
Foxconn, centered in New Taipei, Taiwan, explained in February that it would assemble autos for electric powered-motor vehicle startup Fisker Inc., and in May well reported it would join forces with Stellantis NV, the maker of Jeep and Chrysler, to establish in-automobile software package.
Foxconn’s offer with Macronix Global —which is dependent in Hsinchu, Taiwan—is modest, truly worth the equivalent of about $91 million. But it positions Foxconn to leap into creation of a particular type of semiconductor that is speedily emerging as a primary technological know-how in the electric powered-car or truck industry.
The 6-inch wafers created at the plant are applied mainly for creating automobile-chip factors created of silicon carbide, a materials that is regarded as supplying far better overall performance than classic silicon for some tasks, these as quick charging. U.S. electrical-automobile maker Tesla Inc. started making use of silicon carbide elements in 2018, creating it a person of the 1st in the industry.