The Chinese authorities are probing the iPhone assembler as its founder Terry Gou’s political ambitions grow.
Terry Gou, the founder, and former chairman and CEO of Foxconn, who plans to run as a candidate for the presidential election of Taiwan, attends a press conference to announce his nomination for vice president. September 14, 2023. Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images
Electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn saw its privileged position in China cast into doubt last month when it emerged that the company was under investigation in several provinces over alleged tax and land use offenses. The manner of the news going public — an exclusive report in Chinese state media — has left analysts debating what message Beijing is sending to Foxconn and its founder, Taiwanese presidential candidate Terry Gou.
Source: Company annual report
This week, The Wire looks at Foxconn’s contribution to China’s position as the world’s foremost manufacturing center and examines the company’s efforts to diversify its business presence in other parts of the world.
ON TOP IN TAIWAN
In 1974, 23-year-old Terry Gou founded Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known today as Foxconn, with 100,000 Taiwan dollars ($3,000) in his pocket. The company started by making plastic knobs for television sets. By the 1990s, it was producing components for personal com
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