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The manufacturing giant Foxconn is to help smaller manufacturers get their ideas into production, through a new hardware acceleration initative.
Outlined by chief investment director of the firm Charles Pan at TechCrunch’s Technode event, the strategy will use a new business outreach centre to provide training to the smaller companies.
The centre, based in Beijing, was previously a Nokia campus.
One of the first companies to be assisted by Foxconn was smartwatch manufacturer Tomoon.
Under Foxconn’s guidance, Tomoon turned the T-Fire, an Android smartwatch with a curved e-ink screen, from an idea into a product in six weeks.
“When they came to us it was like a toy,” explained Pan, adding that Foxconn had helped to refine the design of the T-Fire before offering manufacturing advice to get the product made.
No solid date has been set for the launch of the accelerator, but Pan stated that standard operating procedures were in the process of being drafted, with an equity charge expected in return for the service.
