Terry Gou to step back from ‘front line’ at iPhone assembler Foxconn as it expands into India, AI

Terry Gou Tai-ming, the billionaire founder and chairman of iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology Group, plans to step back from day-to-day operations, making room for younger management to run the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer.

A spokesman for Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, said Gou aims to sharpen his focus on the company’s strategic direction, denying earlier reports that he aims to resign or retire.

“I’m already 69 years old. I hope to pass down my 45 years of experience to young people,” said Gou on the sidelines of an event in Taipei on Monday. “That’s the goal I set up – let young people learn sooner and take over my position sooner. Then I have more time to make long-term planning for the company.”

Gou said a new list of board members will be submitted during the company’s board meeting to be held between April and May this year. He said this move would help strengthen the function of the board, while playing down his role in daily operations.

His announcement has come as Foxconn, the largest private employer in China, is expanding its manufacturing operations in India, the world’s second biggest smartphone market, as well as entering new hi-tech fields, including artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving.

Gou said at the same event in Taipei on Monday that Apple’s iPhone will start mass production in India this year, which will get Foxconn more deeply involved in the development of the country’s smartphone industry.

The new production lines in India also reflect how Apple, Foxconn’s biggest customer, sought to grow sales of the iPhone in a vastly untapped market, where it also faces competitors like Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Corp that have outpaced the US company in China.

Last year, Gou said that Foxconn aims to become an AI platform rather than just a manufacturing company. He said the company plans to invest at least US$342 million over five years to recruit talent and deploy AI applications in all its manufacturing sites.

In 2017, Foxconn partnered with Chinese facial recognition systems start-up Megvii, also known as Face++, to develop new applications for robotics and automation technology.

Founded in 1974, Foxconn started as a low-end maker of plastic parts for televisions. In the 1980s, the company moved into connectors for personal computers, which helped it establish key relationships with early US computer makers like Compaq (which later merged with Hewlett Packard) and Dell.

Foxconn’s latest effort to usher in younger management has followed similar initiatives at major Chinese hi-tech companies.

In March, Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings pledged to promote young talent in a bid to refresh its managerial ranks and maintain dynamism within the company. The Hong Kong-listed company plans to remove 10 per cent of its middle- to senior-tier managers as part of a reorganisation.

Last year, internet entrepreneur Jack Ma unveiled a succession plan at Alibaba Group Holding in line with efforts to put younger management in charge of China’s largest e-commerce services provider. New York-traded Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.