Foxconn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hon Hai Precision Industry | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Public(TSEC: 2317)(SEHK: 2038) |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Headquarters | Taipei, Taiwan |
| Area served | Global |
| Key people | Terry Guo (Chairman/President) |
| Industry | Electronics |
| Products | Various |
| Revenue | ▲$40.6 billion USD (2006) |
| Operating income | ▲$1.5 billion USD (2005) |
| Net income | ▲$1.3 billion USD (2005) |
| Employees | 500,000+ |
| Website | Foxconn Technology Group |
Foxconn is the trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Ltd.) (LSE: HHPD). Foxconn is by far the largest contract manufacturer of electronics worldwide, even in midst of Flextronics merger with Solectron, Foxconn is still almost twice the size of the resulting new Flextronics. Although sometimes referred to as an Electronics Manufacturing Services or EMS, Foxconn would be more accurately described as a Joint Design Manufacturer or Joint Development Manufacturer.
The company was founded in 1974 with the goal to make electronics usage an attainable luxury to all. It has been listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange since 1991. It is Taiwan's largest company, with a revenue of US$40.6 billion in 2006.
Foxconn, like most Fortune 100 companies, has operations in Americas, Europe and Asia; in 2007 it employed 450,000 people in China and was China's largest exporter. The company opened its first manufacturing plant in China in 1988.
Contents |
[edit] Products
[edit] Cases
Foxconn makes a range of computer cases designed to appeal to system builders. Apple Inc. vertically integrated with Foxconn in 1986.
[edit] Motherboards
Foxconn designs and manufactures several different motherboards, with many being sold to OEM distributors such as Dell and HP. Starting in 2003 the company has produced retail boards under its own brand name. Foxconn also makes PGA/ZIF sockets used by other OEMs such as ASUS.
[edit] Graphics cards
In March 2006, Foxconn branched into the manufacture of graphics cards, starting with a GeForce 7900GTX (branded as PX7900GTX) at clock speeds of 550 MHz / 1320 MHz for the core and memory respectively, but with intentions to market both NVIDIA and ATi boards.
[edit] Computer cooling solutions
Foxconn manufactures stock heat sink fans for some AMD processors, including but not limited to their K8N Dual Core Opterons.
[edit] Consoles
Foxconn is the OEM for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Wii.
[edit] Apple Products
Foxconn is one of the OEMs for iPod nanos, MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs and iPhones.
[edit] Computers
PCAs and Chassis.
[edit] Cell Phones
Foxconn OEMs Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson cell phones.
Cell phones are produced by Foxconn International Holdings Ltd., a HK based company, also the world's largest handset manufacturing services provider.
Incidentally, FIH is also known for having a legal action against a China based company, BYD. BYD had been known for allegedly infringing on many international firms' intellectual property, such as Sanyo (filed suit), Sony, Toyota... etc.
Foxconn counts the world's top 5 handset brands as its customers.
[edit] Controversy
In June 2006, allegations of Foxconn operating abusive employment practices came to light as reported by Mail that were later denied by Foxconn.[1][2] Apple launched an investigation into such claims.[3] The result was that the claims of mistreatment of employees were judged by the Apple inspection team to be largely unfounded, but the inspection team also discovered that at peak production times some of the employees were working more hours than Apple's acceptable "Code of Conduct" limit of 60 hours, and 25% of the time workers did not get at least one day off each week[1]. These same workers complained there was not enough overtime in off peak periods. The auditing team also found that workers had been punished by being made to stand to attention for long periods[2], whilst the team found that this practice was not widespread, it should also be remembered that all junior employees are subjected to military-style drill[3] at least as part of their initial training. The audit also noted that "some aspects of workplace auditing (such as health and safety) lie beyond our current expertise".
Although admitted it makes workers do an extra 80 hours overtime per month while the local labor law only permits 36 hours[4], Foxconn are now suing the journalists (Wang You and Weng Bao of China Business News). The demand was for $3.77 million originally and have lodged a successful Chinese court ruling to have the journalists' assets frozen.[4] Many think the astronomical demands and the court ruling were absurd.[5] Reporters Without Borders sent a letter to Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs to implore Foxconn to drop the case.[6] Later Foxconn reduced the demand to a symbolic 1 yuan (12 U.S. cents), withdrew the request to freeze the journalists' personal assets, and initiated legal proceedings to sue their employer China Business News. Many have heralded these turn of events as evidence of mass media and negative publicity forcing the hand of big business; leading them to a more appropriate course of action.[7]
Foxconn tapped Indiana’s manufacturing labor force when they opened a computer manufacturing facility for Compaq in May 2000. Initially promising, the facility was plagued by high turnover rate and quality issues. Management met in December 2000 and agreed to close the facility by June 2001. Remaining manufacturing for Compaq was transferred to Houston, TX, and Fullerton, CA. After Hewlett Packard acquired Compaq, Foxconn agreed to open manufacturing again in Indianapolis, IN starting on May 2003, which later transitioned to Plainfield, IN in early 2006.[8] Many employees that worked for Foxconn’s Indianapolis plant in May 2000 were called upon to return, but a significant fraction refused. Those that did return would soon leave citing poor management, specifically referring to the ineptitude of the plant manager, Ke Lan, and little opportunities for professional growth.
On October 25, 2006, Hendricks County Sheriff’s department were called to escort and arrest several employees from the Plainfield facility, including shipping supervisor Phillip Maiden[9] pending further investigation of the high dollar value of missing HP computers. Charges were filed but later dismissed with prejudice. Mr. Maiden was credited with time served. As of December 28, 2007, Mr. Maiden is currently being charged with mail fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice.[10] He is being charged with shipping computers to himself and acquaintances without Q-Edge's knowledge, resulting in a loss over $100,000.
