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48 PCB007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2023 Foxconn designs many of the smartphones that other OEMs are marketing in China. ey also now build a multitude of robots, many of which are used in their own assembly. is lineup will undoubtably be expanded to include the larger robots used for chassis assembly, painting, and welding. Foxconn has purchased HP's inkjet module business and even assem- bles their inkjet printers. Due to automotive demands, Foxconn has purchased a semicon- ductor fabricator and partnered with NVIDIA for CPU chips, and the company is building a new wafer fab in Malaysia. In 2001, Intel chose Foxconn to manufac- ture its Intel-branded motherboards and CPU modules. Next came the smartphone revolu- tion, and it rode that wave with Apple from the very beginning by building iPhones. By keep- ing its exponential growth under the radar, Foxconn found its way into everyone's house- hold without becoming a household name. If Foxconn wanted to finally step out from behind the curtain of obscurity, it had two options: buy consumer brands or move into entirely new industries. It chose to do both. But the real question is: Can all this verticaliza- tion for consumer electronics be extended to the EV business? Can You Build EVs like PCs? e PC market exploded because Intel essen- tially gave away its base PC design provided you purchased an Intel CPU; AMD has since fol- lowed suit. Now, just a few engineers can put together a working PC. At the time, Microso also made Windows soware available at a very low price. Compare this situation to the cur- rent landscape with EVs. An EV is more than just a motor and a battery; there are many dif- ferent electronics systems at play, including bat- tery and charging systems, motor control, light- ing, steering, braking, air conditioning, wip- ers, anti-collision and safety systems, entertain- ment, interior systems, body frame systems, and soon, autonomous 5G communications. Other factors to consider in putting a car on the road: • Government, state, and local traffic regulations • Insurance companies and the risks inherent in operating on public roads Figure 3: The technical services offered by the MIH Consortium 6 .