Cyanogen has been working hard these the past few months to secure powerful allies to help it fulfill its promise to take Android away from Google, and few allies could help it achieve this goal as well as Foxconn can. Earlier today, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, which is best known for manufacturing the iPhone and having terrible working conditions, announced a strategic investment” in Cyanogen.
Foxconn, the renowned—or infamous—Taiwanese contract manufacturer of iPhones and other gadgets, may be looking at building a smartphone of its own. On Tuesday, Foxconn (formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry) made a “strategic investment” in Cyanogen, the Google-free Android alternative that’s been making headlines lately. It offered no reason for the move, so it’s up to us to draw some preliminary conclusions. For years, Foxconn has been one of the tech world’s go-to electronics manufacturers, winning major contracts with Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Huawei, Xiaomi and others. In 2014, Foxconn bought a stake in one of Taiwan’s mobile carriers, Asia Pacific Telecom, showing that the company wants to do more than build other firms’ gadgets. (The carrier subsequently merged with a Foxconn subsidiary.) So the Foxconn investment in Cyanogen suggests that the manufacturer may be planning to release a smartphone of its own.
