Foxconn’s new chairman Liu Young-way in spotlight as iPhone assembler navigates US-China trade war
- Gou remains the largest shareholder with 10 per cent of the company’s shares and retains his seat on the board
Liu Young-way has come under the spotlight after he was named to replace Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou Tai-ming as head of the world's biggest electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn.
Born in 1956, Liu will become chairman of Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, in July, stepping up from his current role as head of Foxconn’s semiconductor arm.
The new man in the top job, which became available when Gou announced he would step down to contest Taiwan’s presidential elections next year, surprised some investors as Liu is low profile.
However, analysts said the handover signals the company's future direction, underscoring the importance of semiconductors, together with technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving, after Foxconn’s traditional major business of smartphone assembly has matured.
“Liu has been in Foxconn for many years. He is a veteran and expert in Taiwan’s electronic industry,” Gou said at Foxconn’s annual general meeting last Friday when he officially announced he would hand over the running of the company to a newly formed nine-member operations committee.
Before joining Foxconn as a special assistant to Gou in 2007, Liu founded several technology companies, including a chip design house and a printed circuit board maker, and also ran an affiliate of United Microelectronics, Taiwan’s second-largest contract chip maker. He holds a degree in physics from Taiwan’s elite National Chiao Tung University and an electrical engineering degree from the University of Southern California.