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Foxconn Technology Group announced yesterday that it was suing a trio of Japanese companies in a US court for alleged patent infringement, in a sign that the maker of Apple iPhones and iPads is moving aggressively to monetise its growing technology base.
富士康科技集團(Foxconn Technology Group)昨日宣布，正在向美國一家法院起訴三家日本企業專利侵權。這個跡象表明，這家蘋果(Apple) iPhone和iPad的代工制造商正采取積極行動套現其不斷壯大的技術根基。
The suit against Toshiba Corporation, Funai Electric Company, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation comes as Terry Gou, Foxconn’s chairman, asked shareholders to be patient while the company diversified its revenue sources, with plans to invest in new businesses such as car electronics and cloud computing.
對東芝(Toshiba)、船井電機(Funai Electric)和三菱電機(Mitsubishi Electric)提起訴訟之際，富士康董事長郭臺銘(Terry Gou)要求股東耐心等待——該公司正努力擴大營收來源，計劃投資新業務，如汽車電子系統和云計算。
The lawsuit highlights how Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is looking to make money from its growing inventory of patents, related to its electronics manufacturing business. The patents in question cover flat screen displays used in televisions, monitors, notebooks, tablets and smartphones.
這起訴訟突顯富士康——又名鴻海精密(Hon Hai Precision Industry)——正尋求從其不斷壯大的與電子制造業務相關的專利庫賺錢。本案針對的專利涉及應用于電視機、監示器、筆記本電腦、平板電腦和智能手機等各類產品的平面顯示器。
Facing pressure from shareholders amid slowing sales, Mr Gou said at Foxconn’s annual meeting: “Please be patient, don’t be in a hurry . . . I’m also the biggest shareholder, so if it’s bad for Hon Hai, it’s also bad for me.”
在銷售放緩的大背景下，面對股東的壓力，郭臺銘在富士康的年度股東大會上表示：“請耐心等待，不要著急……我還是最大股東，因此，對鴻海不利的事，對我也不利。”
Representatives from Toshiba, Funai, and Mitsubishi could not be reached for comment. Foxconn did not say how much it was seeking in damages from the lawsuit, which was filed in the Delaware federal district court.
記者無法聯系上東芝、船井和三菱的代表請其置評。富士康沒有說明其要求獲得多少損害賠償金，這起訴訟是在特拉華州聯邦地區法院提起的。
The company has been seeking ways to expand into sectors outside of manufacturing, where it is dependent on Apple for about half its business.
該公司近年一直在想方設法進軍制造業以外的領域，目前其制造業務的大約一半依賴于蘋果。
This week Foxconn and Pegatron, a rival Taiwanese assembler of Apple products, both said they were recruiting workers – a move thought to be related to production of the next round of Apple products. Last year, Foxconn was one of six bidders to win a 4G telecoms licence in Taiwan in a clear sign of plans to diversify.
本周富士康和同樣為蘋果裝配產品的臺資競爭對手和碩(Pegatron)均稱，他們正在招工。據信此舉與生產蘋果下一代產品有關。去年，富士康成為贏得臺灣4G電信運營牌照的六個競標者之一，這是一個明確跡象，說明該公司計劃將業務多元化。
Foxconn has won business from Japan’s SoftBank and Tesla Motors. It will manufacture a robot for SoftBank and is looking at co-operating with Tesla to make touchscreens for its electric cars. It is also the manufacturer of Amazon’s latest Fire smartphone.
富士康已從日本軟銀(SoftBank)和特斯拉汽車(Tesla Motors)爭取到業務。它將為軟銀制造一款機器人，并正尋求與特斯拉合作，為特斯拉的電動汽車生產觸摸屏。富士康也是亞馬遜(Amazon)新款Fire智能手機的代工制造商。
Foxconn’s financial performance has been worse than expected, partly due to lower orders from Apple. It posted a 1.2 per cent rise in revenue last year to T$3.95tn ($132bn), missing a target set by Mr Gou. Net income, however, was up 13 per cent to a record T$107bn, partly because of foreign exchange gains.
富士康的財務表現近來遜于預期，部分原因是來自蘋果的訂單減少。該公司報告去年營收增長1.2%，至3.95萬億新臺幣（合1320億美元），沒有達到郭臺銘設定的目標。然而，凈利潤增長13%，達到創紀錄的1070億新臺幣，在一定程度上得益于匯兌收益。
There are signs that shareholders are growing restless: a group of global investors including Aviva, Axa, and Calstrs announced this week plans to engage the chairman on questions of transparency, long-term strategy, board composition and the “key man” risk posed by Mr Gou, who founded the company 40 years ago.
有跡象表明，股東正變得越來越焦躁不安：英杰華(Aviva)、安盛(Axa)和加州教師養老基金(CalSTRS)等全球機構投資者本周宣布相關計劃，擬在一連串問題上同富士康董事長溝通，包括透明度、長期戰略、董事會的組成，以及40年前創立公司的郭臺銘所構成的“關鍵人物”風險。
