Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn continues to profit handsomely from the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which has given the company more work besides assembling iPhones for Apple.
Sales of almost 62 billion pounds were recorded in the past quarter. That amounted to a growth of 15 percent, exceeding analysts’ expectations. The company also indicated in a figures update that it expects significant sales growth for the first quarter of this year.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers. It makes devices for major technology companies. In addition to making electronics for third parties, the company wants to expand into servers, among other things.
Data centers
Foxconn expects revenue from its cloud business, which also makes AI servers, to equal sales from its iPhone manufacturing division by 2025. That’s a significant development, as Apple previously accounted for more than half of the Taiwanese company’s annual revenue.
Like other AI hardware makers, Foxconn has benefited from the massive spending on data centre servers by the most prominent U.S. tech companies like Alphabet and Microsoft. However, some experts say AI has yet to find a compelling application. That’s also making investors nervous, as they worry that the boom in all things AI will eventually come to a halt.
Electric cars
Foxconn also wants to enter the electric vehicle market. Although its results show little sign of this, the company has already approached Renault for a collaboration with Nissan. For years, Renault has been the Japanese car manufacturer’s most important partner and shareholder.
For the time being, however, this attempt by Foxconn is on hold while Nissan and Honda negotiate a merger, financial news agency Bloomberg reported earlier.
