Foxconn Discussing Electric Car Partnership With Vietnam’s VinFast

Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn is engaged in early discussions with Vietnamese automaker VinFast over a potential electric vehicle (EV) partnership, sources told Reuters.  Speaking anonymously, they revealed that Foxconn is keen to buy VinFast’s EV production lines.

VinFast, which is Vietnam’s first fully-fledged domestic carmaker, is a fairly young automaker as it only founded in 2017. That being said, the company has a solid background since it is a subsidiary of Vingroup JSC which is a massive conglomerate founded by the country’s first billionaire, Phạm Nhật Vượng.

But one source said that VinFast is instead leaning towards a partnership – the company wants to brand itself as an eco-friendly automaker and keep its EV business. While Foxconn apparently declined to comment on this matter, a VinFast’s spokesperson has told Reuters that it has indeed received proposals from the Taiwanese manufacturer but nothing has been set on the stone at the moment and the discussion towards batteries as well as electric car parts.

Known by many for its work on iPhone, Foxconn has recently been making aggressive forays into the automotive market. In January, it linked arms with Chinese automaker Geely to provide contract manufacturing and electric vehicle consulting services for other carmakers.

Then, last month, it reached a deal codenamed “PROJECT PEAR” to build electric vehicles for US electric car company Fisker.

Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way said in October last year that the company wants to provide components or services to 10% of the world’s electric vehicles by 2025 to 2027, Reuters noted.

Apple itself is eager to enter the electric vehicle market, reportedly planning a 2024 launch for its car project. To that end, Apple allegedly entered talks with carmakers like Hyundai and Nissan, but those discussions have fizzled out for now.

Grab And Watsons Enter Into Partnership That Spans Several Southeast Asian Countries

Grab and A.S. Watson Group, known for its Watsons stores, announced that they will be working together to expand access to Watsons’ merchandise through a health and beauty partnership. The collaboration spans six Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia. The deal will also leverage Watsons’ extensive physical store presence along with Grab’s large on-demand delivery fleet.

Freda Ng, Chief Digital Officer, Watsons International, says that the O+O (online and offline) partnership should provide added convenience to brand’s customers, enabling them to shop for over 62,000 health and beauty products, either from the Watsons App or on GrabMart.

The partnership will be rolling out across the region in phases, and includes the following elements. Consumers can look forward to expedited delivery through GrabExpress, receiving their Watsons merchandise within hours instead of days.

The deal will also integrate 2,200 Watson stores across the region with GrabMart, making Watsons the largest health and beauty retailer on the platform. Consumers in Malaysia and five other Southeast Asian markets can now pick from the full Watsons’ online catalogue on GrabMart.

Additionally, the GrabPay digital wallet will soon be accepted in Watsons’ Southeast Asia stores and will also be integrated into the Watsons mobile app. Consumers will receive GrabRewards points for all Watsons transactions made through GrabPay.

HONOR Confirms Partnership with Qualcomm, Intel and More But Google’s Status Is Still Unknown

In addition to launching the new V40 or View40 as it is known internationally, HONOR has also made a remark regarding its global supply chain. In a statement on its website, the company has listed down a list of its international collaborators.

Aside from MediaTek which is the very company that supplied the Dimensity 1000+ processor for the V40, HONOR has mentioned several U.S companies inside the list including AMD, Intel, and Microsoft who have provided processors and software for its laptops.

Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Sony have also agreed to partner with the company. There is also Qualcomm in the list which seems to be a sign that HONOR may no longer be affected by the sanctions on its former parent company, Huawei by the United States.

However, Google is still not in HONOR’s partnership list though. While things could change shortly especially given that Donald Trump is no longer the U.S President, HONOR itself has yet to confirm whether the View40 will come with Google Mobile Services (GMS) or otherwise.

The brand clearly has some difficulties in getting their phones to the hands of consumers outside of China due to the absence of GMS. So, not having Google on its side could stifle HONOR’s progress in the post-Huawei era but, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves just yet and see what will be in store when the company is finally ready to bring View40 to the world.