A report today is saying that Google wants to become more like Apple in its Nexus lineup of phones and tablets – that is to say it wants more control over the marketing and building of its products. But can Google build up its hardware engineering at the same time without alienating its hardware/carrier partners and even Apple? …
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At an event in India this morning, OnePlus announced that it has partnered with Foxconn to start making phones at the Foxconn Rising Stars factory in the Sri City Integrated Business City in Andhra Pradesh. OnePlus expects they will begin to assemble phones there by the end of this year. Pete Lau, OnePlus’ co-founder was at an event in Bengaluru this morning and stated:
“Producing smartphones in India is one of the most important decisions that we have made so far at OnePlus, and we are thankful to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Foxconn for helping us make this happen. India being one of our biggest markets worldwide, we are committed to a long term sustainable growth path. This move will strengthen our presence and help us step up momentum in India.”
OnePlus isn’t the first phone maker to take part in the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Just a few weeks ago, one of China’s biggest manufacturers, Xiaomi, announced a brand new phone which was made in India, for the Indian market. Like OnePlus, Xiaomi is making its phones in the Foxconn Rising Stars factory.
Once up and running, OnePlus will be able to use its 30,000 square foot facility to manufacture up to 500,000 smartphones every month, employing 1,000 new full-time workers. The first ‘batch’ of phones, likely to be the unreleased and unannounced ‘OnePlus X’ will be made available in India before 2016 swings in.
The details are very scarce at this point, but a fresh press release this morning reveals that Cyanogen has received a “strategic investment” from Foxconn, closing out its series C round of funding. While an exact number isn’t mentioned (in fact no details are really mentioned), the release does say that Cyanogen has raised a total of $110 million in funding to date, assumably including the amount that Foxconn has invested.
Cyanogen received $70 million in an investment round in January, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Some amount of that was from Microsoft, another company that Cyanogen calls its partner. Kirt McMaster, Cyanogen’s CEO, was quoted as saying that the company plans to “take Android away from Google,” and apparently Foxconn—like Microsoft—will happily support this venture.
Leading Consumer Electronics Manufacturer Invests in Cyanogen’s Open OS Vision
PALO ALTO, CA–(Marketwired – May 12, 2015) – Cyanogen Inc. announced the strategic investment from Foxconn and closed out its series C round of funding. With offices in Palo Alto and Seattle, Cyanogen is leveraging the investment to accelerate talent hiring and the development of its open OS platform. The platform will create a more open, level playing field for 3rd party developers, enabling seamlessly integrated experiences within the operating system.
Foxconn is the leader of contract manufacturing and FIH Mobile is the leading end-to-end provider for world’s best known handset brands. Along with Cyanogen’s other investors, the strategic investment from Foxconn will help advance Cyanogen’s commercial adoption and growth in major markets around the world.
“We’re evolving Android and creating an open computing platform that will change the way consumers interact with their mobile devices,” said Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen Inc. “Foxconn and our diverse group of strategic investors and partners reflect the mobile value chain, from device manufacturers and mobile network operators to chipset makers and 3rd party developers. They see the great potential of what we’re doing in creating the next major paradigm shift in mobile computing.”
To date, Cyanogen has raised a total $110 million in funding. As the third leading mobile operating system, Cyanogen is known for its commercial operating system, Cyanogen OS, and open source community distribution CyanogenMod that the company backs.
About Cyanogen Inc.
Cyanogen is reimagining mobile computing, giving power to the people to customize their mobile device and content experiences. The CYANOGEN® operating system is built on Android and known for its revolutionary personalization features, intuitive interface, speed, improved battery life, and enhanced security. With a rapidly growing global user base and a vibrant community of developers, we’re intelligently connecting smartphone and tablet consumers to people, apps, and things they love. For more information, visit Cyanogen’s website, Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.
About FIH Mobile Ltd.
FIH (http://www.fihmb.com) is a vertically integrated manufacturing service provider for the mobile device industry worldwide. It provides a wide range of manufacturing services to its customers in connection with the production of mobile devices. Hon Hai Precision Industry Company Limited is the ultimate controlling shareholder of FIH (Hon Hai), and Hon Hai and its subsidiaries (as a group commonly known as the Foxconn Technology Group) is the leading global manufacturing service provider in the 3C (computer, communication and consumer electronics) industries.
The Verge observes that Samsung’s new 2014 Sustainability Report shows that the company has a lot of work to do to get its manufacturing in order.
As part of its 2014 Sustainability Report, Samsung commissioned independent inspections at 100 of its suppliers in China and the results make for grim reading …
Foxconn, best known for manufacturing Apple products, says that it has sold display patents to Google for an undisclosed sum. Details are vague, with the briefest of statements quoted in the WSJ stating only that they were related to “communications technology.”
Foxconn has been seeking to reduce its dependence on Apple, which provides around 40 percent of its business, with its own product lines. Patent sales provide a further form of diversification for the company, which says that it has been granted more than 64,000 patents to date, and applied for a similar number again.
In what would be a rather amusing twist, future iPhones could be built by Google robots as Google’s robotics division assists Foxconn to “speed up robot deployment” at its factories.
The WSJ reports that Foxconn was looking for assistance in automating its production lines, while Google is aiming to introduce robots to manufacturing processes that have so far been largely manual – electronics assembly being a key example. It takes around 600 people to make each iPhone.
Foxconn has been working with former Android executive Andy Rubin since last year to carry out the U.S. company’s vision for robotics.
To speed up robot deployment at its own factories, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou met with Rubin in Taipei recently and they discussed new robotic technologies, they said.
At the meeting, Gou expressed excitement over new automation technologies demonstrated by Rubin, they said. Rubin also asked Gou to help integrate a technology company that Google is acquiring as Foxconn’s strength lies in mechanical engineering.
Google has acquired eight robotics companies over the course of the past year, and is believed to have ambitions to create a robotic operating system that would be to manufacturing what Android is to smartphones. Foxconn is looking to reduce operating costs and boost efficiency.
“Foxconn needs Google’s help to step up automation at its factories as the company has the lowest sales per employee among the contract makers, given its large workforce,” said Wanli Wang, an analyst at CIMB Securities.
Photo: digitaltrends.com
There are times when tech companies seem to spend more time in court battling patents than they do launching products. Microsoft should now be able to spend less time in court after signing an apparently wide-ranging patent licensing deal with Chinese company Hon Hai, the largest contract electronics company in the world.
The terms weren’t disclosed, but apparently provide ‘broad coverage’ for devices running Android and ChromeOS.
Rumors have been in the air for several months that claim Amazon will compete in the handset space with its own offering, much like it did with its Kindle Fire line of tablets. According to a new report from the Taiwan Economic News, the Internet retail giant has selected the infamous Foxconn to manufacture the handset. Additionally, Amazon is said to have ordered 5 million units and will launch the device at $100 to $200 sometime in the second quarter or third quarter of 2013.
The Kindle Fire line of tablets, which has software based off Android with many custom additions (and even more subtractions), has done wonders for Android’s tablet marketshare, helping the platform close the seemingly insurmountable gap with the iPad. Amazon was the first to offer a tablet at such a low cost, selling in seemingly big numbers. However, no specific figures have ever been given. With its large online marketplace and bevy of apps on its Amazon Appstore, we wouldn’t put it past the company to be a serious competitor in the handset game. (via Engadget)
Trade publication DigiTimes quoted market sources this morning who heard that the online retail giant, Amazon, is gearing up for mass production of another tablet, a 10.1-inch device, for the first quarter of next year. The world’s largest contract manufacturer, Foxconn, will take care of manufacturing, the report notes. Foxconn is also Apple’s long-time manufacturing partner and they make gadgets and computers for a number of Western brands.
While the report doesn’t cast more light on the device, the screen size suggests a Honeycomb-class tablet. The story does corroborate an AndroidMe claim back in May that Amazon has been working on a family of mobile devices powered by the Android software.
Amazon is also in the process of tweaking its web shopping site to mobile access, apparently in preparation for its inaugural tablet launch next month. That device is said to be a seven-inch slate tightly integrated with Amazon’s cloud and content services.
DigiTimes’ report also notes Amazon placed an order for up to eighteen million Kindle units for the entire year, confirming their lead in the e-reader market with an estimated 60-70 percent share of global e-book reader shipments in 2011.
Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes quotes unnamed industry sources who claim Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer for gadgets, will produce a rumored Android-driven tablet from Amazon, said to sport a 10.1-inch display, with shipments to begin in 2012 at the earnest. Quanta Computer, another contract manufacturer from Asia, has already begun shipping a smaller seven-inch device to Amazon, the report notes:
Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) has reportedly landed orders for 10.1-inch tablet PCs from Amazon with shipments to begin in 2012, while Quanta Computer has begun shipping a 7-inch model to Amazon. Foxconn declined to comment on market speculation.
Foxconn of course is Apple’s long-time manufacturer so it comes as a surprise that Apple did not exercise its influence and billions to block rivals from tapping Foxconn’s manufacturing potentials. That’s not entirely unheard of, however…
