Hon Hai Steps Into Tech Service Sector

Taipei, March 5, 2009 (CENS)--Hon Hai Group, Taiwan's largest manufacturer, has decided to extend its operation into the field of tech service, as evidenced by the inking of the contract yesterday (March 4) for it to become the exclusive agency for IBM's carbon credit solution program, dubbed "Green Cert," in the Asia-Pacific region.

At a press conference announcing the strategic alliance with IBM, Terry Guo, chairman of Hon Hai, pointed out that the group will sink several tens of millions of U.S dollar to US$200 million into the project initially, including the recruitment of 100-200 engineers at its operation in Kaohsiung software park for developing different application versions of Green Cert for different industries.

Hon Hai has reportedly set up a new business division to handle the software and service business, including the marketing of Green Cert.

Hon Hai signed the contract not only with IBM but also with energy-information solution providers EIM and C-Lock, according to which the four parties will join hands in developing and marketing Green Cert in Asia-Pacific under a division-of-labor scheme. Green Cert boasts the capability to monitor, quantify, and verify CO2 emission, thereby facilitating the trading efficiency of the carbon credit market, whose scale is predicted to hit US$300 billion by 2020, up from US$30 billion in 2006.

Terry Guo confirmed Hon Hai's decision to step into the tech service sector, citing the precedence of IBM and HP. Hon Hai will first apply the solution at the group's factories worldwide and then push it to its existing clients and suppliers, according to

Guo.