'3D printing is a gimmick,' says Foxconn boss

Terry Gou, president of one of the world's largest electronics manufacturing companies, says 3D printing has no real commercial value

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Terry Gou, chairman and president of Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. Photo: David Chang for EPA

Published: 3:49pm, 26 Jun 2013Updated: 7:37am, 27 Jun 2013

The president of Foxconn Technology Group, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, has blasted 3D printing, calling it a “gimmick.”

Terry Gou, founder and president of the Taiwanese multinational company, explained to Taiwan media on Monday that the modernisation of 3D printing “did not mean the advent of a third industrial revolution”.

“3D printing is a gimmick,” Gou said. “If it really is that good, then I’ll write my surname ‘Gou’ backwards [from now on].”

Gou confessed that even though Foxconn had been using 3D printing for nearly 30 years, he was not optimistic about the technology’s future, arguing it was unsuitable for mass production and did not have any real commercial value. As an example, Gou said that while 3D printing might be able to manufacture a phone, it would be an unusable model. This was because the printers could not assemble electronic components - a process still requiring humans or specialised machines. Gou said 3D printers were currently incapable of printing leather, leading to unsustainable products which could not be mass-produced.

Gou’s remark about a “third industrial revolution” was made in reference to a 2012 article by The Economist which described 3D printing as such. The piece said the sophisticated 3D printers of the modern era were ushering in “digitisation in manufacturing,” a revolution similar to textile mechanisation and the development of the assembly line.

3D printing technology has become a global trend over the past year. In January, Japanese electronics company Panasonic unveiled a high resolution 56-inch television in January which had been manufactured with the help of 3D printers. The Asian Manufacturing Association, a mainland China alliance, announced its plans in May to invest 200 million yuan in building 3D printing manufacturing centres across the country. The same month, a Singapore start-up company revealed a cheap US$350 3D printer called the “Pirate3D.” Hong Kong based company MakiBox has also started pre-production on an even cheaper model for US$300.

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