“I was drizzling when I arrived in Shenzhen last night. I did n’t expect Guangzhou to be beautiful today.” Just after the journey from the United States to Taipei and then to Shenzhen, Guo Taiming arrived in Guangzhou before March 1 and went to The groundbreaking ceremony of the 10.5-generation display industrial park.
At the end of 2016, Foxconn subsidiary Sakai Display Products Co., Ltd. (SDP) signed a cooperation agreement with the Guangzhou Municipal Government. According to the content of the cooperation, Foxconn spent a total of 61 billion yuan to build an industrial park in the Zengcheng Economic and Technological Development Zone.
It is envisaged that the industrial park will soon become a base for Foxconn to produce 8K large-screen displays. This is also after the major acquisition of Sharp, Foxconn once again bet on 8K display technology.
Guo Taiming described its acquisition of Sharp and the introduction of 8K display technology as a replacement for the phoenix. Whether this phoenix can bring Guo Taiming the expected growth and prompt Foxconn to regain the market is still to be verified.
8K industry opportunities
4K LCD screens are becoming mainstream.
According to IHS Markit data from a third-party research organization, in July and August 2016, 4K LCD TV panel shipments reached a level of about 6 million pieces per month, accounting for 26% and 24% of LCD TV panel shipments in the month. And this number is expected to reach 35% in the second quarter of this year.
Behind the numbers is the growing demand for clear display devices in the consumer market, and as the next generation of 4K technology, 8K has not yet officially entered the market, but has won many brands.
As the highest fine image specification that can be recognized by human eyes, 8K TV can be used not only for consumer products but also for many industrial applications.
After the groundbreaking ceremony, Guo Taiming introduced to reporters Foxconn's deployment of 8K LCD technology and the future application of this technology in ultra-clear entertainment, smart home IoT, cloud network infrastructure, broadband applications and minimally invasive precision medicine.
IHS chief analyst Paul Gray said that the biggest obstacle to 8K TV growth is consumer screen size preference. "8K requires a very large screen to accommodate higher resolutions, which is difficult to achieve at normal viewing distances," he said. "In the past decade, the average screen size of the TV market has increased by one inch per year, but in It will still take a while before sizes above 70 inches become more common. "
For now, the potential of 8K displays is mainly reflected in the direction of the industry. At the scene, the staff demonstrated using a thin thread to cut out part of the fairy ball. This operation is completed under the 8K camera, and this thin line that is almost invisible to the naked eye is clearly visible on the 8K screen by synchronous zooming. Guo Taiming told reporters that the future of 8K technology has a huge imagination in the field of precision medical surgery.
From OEM to R & D
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Guo Taiming talked about his trip to the United States, and then traveled from Taipei to Shenzhen in the United States, saying that he had experienced the longest day. However, from his face, he could not see fatigue.
The driving force behind Guo Taiming's passing through Jiajia and being like an entrepreneur is that he is eager to subvert Foxconn's impression of the foundry outside.
Apple ’s sales fell last year, and Foxconn, which is Apple ’s largest foundry, relied heavily on orders from Apple, resulting in a decline in financial performance. For Guo Taiming, transformation may be a good medicine to get rid of dependence.
In recent years, relying on the wealth accumulated by OEMs, Foxconn has made a foray into the investment industry. Guo Taiming's figure also frequently appears in major investment news: whether it is to cooperate with Ali and Softbank to lay out artificial intelligence, or to buy 66% of the equity of Japan's old electrical brand Sharp, and become Sharp's new owner, it shows Foxconn's determination to transform.
Through acquisitions, Foxconn gradually increased the proportion of R & D.
At the Foxconn headquarters in Shenzhen last month, Guo Taiming announced that he will recruit tens of thousands of college students this year to go deep into the front line for production research and development. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Guo Taiming once again stated that he would build the industrial park into a base integrating 8K technology R & D and production.
In addition, Nikon, Merck, Corning and other 100 partners will also enter the industrial park with Foxconn to form an 8K ecology.
"Many people think that Foxconn is a foundry industry. I also hope that everyone will come to Taiwan to visit Japan to see the projects we invested in. If we used to change cages and birds, then the (high-tech) we replaced today is Feng." Guo Taiming said.
Guo Taiming also showed great interest in building a factory in the United States, hoping to take into account both the Chinese and American markets. "Entrepreneurs all over the world, you ask him. If you let him make a choice in two major markets, China and the United States, then there is only one answer. I need both." As for whether to move back to the United States, Guo Taiming is also seriously considering. "We used to have a lot of factories in the United States, because after slowly comparing the benefits, we moved to China. This is a trend. Our principle is that from the point of view of comparative benefits, wherever production is beneficial, production is wherever it is beneficial. "
Acquisition of Toshiba and increase of chips
In the transformation process, 8K display technology is an important battle for Foxconn to turn over.
According to IHS Markit's prediction, 8K screen display will exceed 2 million units in 2020. With the breakthrough of 5G technology, 8K display will enter rapid growth.
At present, domestic and foreign brands are actively planning the 8K market. For Foxconn, this is a window of opportunity. How to seize the opportunity before this is the key point to gain market share in the future.
Therefore, after the successful acquisition of Sharp, Foxconn aimed at Toshiba. At the scene, Guo Taiming was frank and very sincere in acquiring Toshiba. He could even assist Toshiba to build factories overseas, and Toshiba can still retain its technology. "We need them, and they need us. As Toshiba users and partners, we will assist them Management, infusion of capital, and many elements that allow their products to be sold all over the world. "
For the current 8K technology, whether the TV chip and transmission capability can handle 8K video well is the most important technical difficulty. Therefore, to achieve large-scale commercial breakthroughs in 8K technology, you must wait until the application of 5G technology. Before this, few brands could solve this technical difficulty.
Toshiba's previously demonstrated 8K TV prototype used 4 HDMI inputs to display 4K resolution 4K 8K images to solve the technical difficulties. Although it is not further commercialized, it is enough to attract industry attention.
It is reported that Hon Hai is very concerned about Toshiba's semiconductor and 8K impact technology. I am eager to get the core content of 8K video, so as to produce a TV that can display ultra-high-quality movies.
Although this is not entirely part of the negotiation with Toshiba, it is still unknown whether Toshiba 8K technology will be sold separately or left to itself. But before the arrival of 8K large-scale commercial use, Foxconn has more time to prepare.
