Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, will invest US$30 million (NT$908 million) to set up a solar battery manufacturing plant in China.
In an announcement filed to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, Hon Hai said Tuesday the solar battery firm will be located in Funing of Jiangsu Province, but the company did not disclose further details about the new investment.
Market analysts said it is the first time for Hon Hai to make inroads into the solar energy business, in line with many of its local counterparts, and the move is seen as a bid to boost its bottom line which has been squeezed by fiercer than ever competition in contract manufacturing services.
Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou said in an annual general meeting held in June that his company was determined to take a share in the global solar energy market after two years of careful assessments.
Gou said Hon Hai’s solar energy investment would be a long-term program and would take advantage of the company’s high-tech development and its ability in supply chain management.
The analyst said the particular US$30 million deal represented just a fraction of Hon Hai’s massive overseas investments, such a US$12 billion project to build a tablet computer and flat panel production base in Brazil.
They said Hon Hai will simply use the Funing plant to test the waters in the new solar energy arena before coming up with further investments in the green energy field.
They added the choice of the new plant location is expected to help Hon Hai gain access to potential customers in China.
In January, Hon Hai and its affiliates under Hon Hai Group, which is also known as Foxconn Technology Group, were planning to acquire a 44.78 percent stake in Taiwan-based solar battery supplier E-Ton Solar Tech through a private placement, but the deal fell apart.
The local media also reported Hon Hai Group might work with GCL-Poly Energy Holdings, one of China’s largest polysilicon manufacturers, in solar energy investments.
