After starting from the mainland, Guo Taiming publicly threatened to move out
Guo Taiming rose rapidly in the east wind of Chinese mainland's reform and opening up, relying on the advantages of the mainland. As the founder of Foxconn, Terry Gou saw the cheap labor and land costs in the mainland at that time, and set up dozens of Foxconn factories in the mainland, relying on the mainland's labor advantages, quickly grew into the world's largest OEM company, and was Apple's main foundry. It can be said that without the accommodation of the mainland market and the hard work of mainland employees, Gou's Foxconn would not have achieved today's achievements. Guo Taiming was able to gain a foothold on the mainland, all thanks to the policy dividends of reform and opening up.
But the good times didn't last long, after Foxconn's development reached its peak, Guo Taiming gradually forgot his original intention, not only belittled the mainland many times in public, saying that setting up a factory in the mainland "is to give mainlanders a meal", but also repeatedly threatened to move out of the mainland. During the new crown pneumonia epidemic this year, Guo Taiming publicly declared, "If China is bad one day, Foxconn can move from China overnight." Mr. Gou's gaffe provoked widespread public indignation in China. An entrepreneur who started by relying on the mainland market is not only ungrateful, but also openly attacks the mainland, which is beyond the scope of business and involves disrespect for the country. Naturally, Gou's wild remarks were strongly condemned. A person who eats inside and outside is destined to not be able to go far.
India's plan is moving slowlyResulting in a decrease in orders
After publicly expressing his intention to move away from the mainland, Guo Taiming chose India as the new strategic focus. He vigorously boasted of India's human resource superiority, and declared that he would build a new "world factory" in India to replace the mainland's position in the global industrial chain.
But the result disappointed Guo Taiming. For many years, Foxconn's development in India has been slow and has not been able to scale. The main problem is that India's infrastructure is backward, the first-chain system is not perfect, and various accidents occur from time to time. For example, the Foxconn factory in India has frequent employee strikes, equipment fires and other accidents, low production efficiency, and uneven product quality.
These problems directly led to Apple's dissatisfaction with the Foxconn factory in India. This year, orders for Apple's high-end iPhone 15 were not given to India's Foxconn, but were allocated to Foxconn's rivals Intel and China's Li Tong Precision. It can be said that Gou's attempt to leave the mainland and find a new foundry base failed. India's environment and system cannot be compared with the mainland, which directly leads to a decrease in Foxconn's orders. Mr. Gou's Indian factory is more of an insult to mainland workers. The growth of an enterprise is inseparable from a solid industrial foundation and an excellent labor team, which is underestimated by Gou.
Mr. Gou may delay his plans to move out
With India's plans not going well, Mr. Gou is under even more pressure from local rivals in India.
Tata, India's most powerful super group, has begun to fully intervene in Apple's localization industry chain. The Tata Group has wholly acquired the Apple business unit of Indian mobile phone maker Wistron and said it would squeeze Foxconn in India to compete for more Apple orders. It is understood that the Tata Group is also continuing to acquire Apple's other key enterprises in India, such as Intel's factory in India. Once these acquisitions are successful, Foxconn's living space in India will be severely squeezed.
In the face of the "hunting" of local Indian consortiums, Guo Taiming has become worried and frightened. He may be forced to reconsider his plans to move away from the mainland, as the Chinese market remains Foxconn's most critical foothold in the event of a failure in India. Of course, we can't let up because of Gou's capriciousness. In the long run, it is still necessary to rely on independent innovation and develop high-tech industries with independent intellectual property rights. Only by being self-reliant and self-reliant in science and technology can we ensure the safety of the industrial chain and calmly deal with various external changes. Gou's lesson is still worthy of our vigilance and deep thought.
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