Foxconn, Taiwan’s contract electronics manufacturing giant, has invested $36 million in a solar-cell manufacturer to develop electric vehicle (EV) battery components. The investment was made via a private placement through a Taiwan-based subsidiary that will make it the second-largest shareholder in Gigasolar. The two companies will jointly develop materials for EVs. Foxconn has identified EVs as a key new business and has struck several deals with companies, including Italian carmaker Stellantis and Thailand’s state-run energy group PTT. The Taiwanese company aims to provide components or services to 10% of the world’s electric cars by 2025 to 2027.
Foxconn has been battling to control outbreaks of Covid-19 at its factories and affiliates. Production at Foxsemicon, a semiconductor equipment maker affiliated with Foxconn, has been disrupted. The spread of Covid-19 into Taiwan’s electronics factories is threatening to delay semiconductor shipments, according to companies and analysts, raising the prospect of renewed disruption to an industry gripped by a global shortage. An outbreak among migrant workers has also hit chip packager Greatek and telecoms gear producer Accton. Taiwan continues to report triple-digit totals of daily new Covid-19 cases. On Tuesday, the Central Epidemic Command Centre announced 135 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, all but three locally transmitted. The country has recorded more than 11,000 cases and 260 deaths since the start of the pandemic.