Key takeaways
- Establish a €250 million OSAT facility in Europe through Foxconn and Thales partnership.
- Leverage fan-out wafer-level packaging for aerospace, automotive, and defense markets.
- Combine Foxconn's manufacturing with Thales Alenia Space's satellite technology for telecom projects.
- Expand Foxconn's presence in the space sector with new satellite constellation production initiatives.
- Strengthen supply chain resilience through strategic collaborations with French companies.
Hon Hai Technology Group, also known as Foxconn, recently announced a strategic partnership with France’s Thales Group, which focuses on semiconductors and space technologies. The agreement was revealed during the ‘Choose France’ economic summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The partnership involves two memoranda of understanding (MoUs). The first target is to establish an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) facility in Europe, with an investment exceeding €250 million.
Foxconn is in preliminary talks with Thales and French connector maker Radiall about developing the facility. It aims to use fan-out wafer-level packaging (FOWLP) to serve aerospace, automotive, space telecoms, and defence markets.
The second MoU concerns satellite constellation production. It combines Foxconn’s manufacturing expertise with Thales Alenia Space’s—a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%)—satellite technology to explore high-volume satellite manufacturing for telecommunications projects in low-Earth orbit.
Foxconn, which launched its own low Earth orbit PEARL CubeSat in 2023, seeks to expand its presence in the space sector and strengthen supply chain resilience through this partnership. The initiative also aims to attract European industrial investors to support the project.
As for India, the company recently announced a joint venture with HCL to establish India’s sixth semiconductor manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh. The plant is to be located near Jewar airport in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area. The venture will also attract an investment of ₹3,700 crore.
Foxconn is known globally for its electronics manufacturing. The two companies had also partnered in January 2024, marking Foxconn’s first step into setting up OSAT operations in India. The company had committed to investing significantly in the country to strengthen its domestic manufacturing capabilities, serving clients like Apple and Xiaomi.
Around the same time, Foxconn expressed its eagerness to collaborate with HCL to establish OSAT operations in India, especially in Bengaluru.
