GUIZHOU, China—Foxconn, Apple Inc.'s major assembler,
is looking to invest in e-commerce and manufacturing operations in
India, its chairman said Tuesday.
"I am interested in 'Made in India' and I plan to visit India in
July. We already have employees doing surveys (for investments)
there," Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou told The Wall Street Journal in
an interview on the sidelines of the Big Data Expo in Guizhou,
southwest China.
Mr. Gou said the contract manufacturer is still in talks with
Indian e-commerce startup Snapdeal.com about a potential
investment.
But he declined to provide more details as "the deal hasn't been
closed yet."
His comments came as the company, known officially as Hon Hai
Precision Industry Co., has been striving to seek new growth
drivers as competition for Apple's orders intensifies and wages in
China, where it manufactures most of the consumer electronics,
continue to rise.
Foxconn has been trying to expand into the higher-margin market,
including robots and data centers that process and store large
amounts of data on Internet-based applications.
The company has also invested in the manufacturing operations of
SoftBank Corp.'s robot called Pepper, said Mr. Gou, adding that
Alibaba also has a stake in the robot operation.
Write to Lorraine Luk at lorraine.luk@wsj.com
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