Morning Report: Electronics manufacturer, Foxconn Interconnect Technology, will reportedly acquire Belkin for $866 million to explore a smart home network.
According to the Financial Times, a subsidiary of Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company Foxconn International Technologies announced that it will acquire U.S based electronics designer, Belkin International. The Hong Kong-based Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) will acquire the company for a widely reported total of $866 million. Belkin will reportedly operate as a subsidiary of FIT, and its CEO, Chet Pipkin, will remain in his current position.
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The Financial Times further reports that Foxconn is looking to build out an IoT-style smart home ecosystem. Belkin’s Wemo home automation system already offers multiple smart plugs, light switches, and cameras that are controlled by the Wemo app for smart home integration, along with its Apple HomeKit-enabled Wemo bridge. FIT reportedly recorded revenue of $3.4 billion in 2017, with mobile and wireless accounting for 46.8 percent of that total and consumer electronics making up 24 percent.
Everyone Has Their Own Thing
Crunchbase News reported in November that Dell’s VC arm Dell Technologies has also been interested in building out it’s IoT network, investing in early-stage startups in that category. We also dove deep into the Xiaomi story in January, finding that the company has long invested in building out its smart home platform, funding early-stage startups with connected home appliances ranging from a wifi-enabled rice cooker and electric bicycle to its MiTV.
Furthermore, in March, Crunchbase News found that while excitement surrounding connected devices may be slowing among consumers—I guess we just assume everything can work with Alexa at this point—funding into U.S.-based IoT startups peaked at 1.46 billion, up 42 percent from the year before. With connectivity and integration with already existing home assistants high on the priority list for consumers of digital products, Foxconn’s plan is unsurprising.
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Illustration Credit: Li Anne Dias
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