Hon Hai Sets up Team to Develop 5G Tech

Chairman and Co-founder Chi Hsieh of Microelectronics Technology Inc., an affiliate of the Hon Hai Group, said Hon Hai has set up a team of 200 specialists and will invest approximately NT$4 billion (US$129.03 million) over five years to develop fifth-generation (5G) technologies and patents in cooperation with top wireless-equipment suppliers in Taiwan, America and Europe, and that by 2020 the team will release market-ready products for Internet of Things (IoT) applications during the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Industry executives feel that Hon Hai may end up being a forerunner in the 5G field, despite being a latecomer in the Internet-based communication area, in consideration of the group's contract manufacturing advantages built up over the years and wide business coverage of its wireless subsidiaries including the 4G-service provider AMBIT Corp., the broadband service provider Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom Co., Ltd., the optic-fiber cable maker Tai Tung Communication Co., Ltd., and the microwave-communication equipment maker Microelectronics Technology.

Hsieh pointed out that the group's presence in the years to come will mainly focus on Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, mobile communication, Big Data, and smart manufacturing industries. 5G technology, he stressed, is the key to linking the group's presence in these areas because 5G provides the frequency band that is 100 times wider than any that existing wireless technologies provide.

He added that wireless devices used by transportation, architectural, and manufacturing industries worldwide to connect to the Internet are estimated at 25 billion units by 2020.

Hsieh pointed out that Hon Hai's 5G team is composed of specialists from Hon Hai, Microelectronics, the Taiwan office of the American IP provider ScienBiziP, America and Denmark, all of which to work with European telecom heavyweights, Hon Hai's customers, Hon Hai's strategic partners at home and overseas, Taiwan's schools and institutes to develop potential products.

He noted that the team invites telecom suppliers because they are integral in setting communications standards and their sales volumes are considerable.

Hon Hai's 5G plan was publicized after Hsieh attended a press conference recently held by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to introduce the government's plan to develop 5G technology in cooperation with the private sector and academic circle.

The MOEA's 5G plan aims to achieve five goals by 2020: Help Taiwan secure 4 percent of the global market for crucial 5G patents, which, in turn, are estimated to bring Taiwanese manufacturers US$10-20 billion of net income a year from licensing; make Taiwan one of the world's top-two 5G handset chip suppliers; make Taiwan the world's No.1 supplier of 5G end-user equipment; improve Taiwan's share of global market for small-cell towers to over a half from the current a quarter; build 100 percent in-house technological capability for Taiwan's small-cell tower industry; and help Taiwan enter the global market for application systems based on the chip, end-user equipment and small-cell tower.