Five things to know about Taiwan tech giant Foxconn

tech.hindustantimes.com:

China has imposed a strict lockdown on an area of central China housing a vast iPhone factory operated by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn.

The company, also known as Hon Hai Technology Group, is the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics, including producing 70 percent of all iPhone shipments globally.

The firm is also one of the world's biggest employers, with nearly 1.3 million working in factories mostly in China but also across Asia, eastern Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Here are five things to know about the tech behemoth, the latest victim of China's no-compromise zero-Covid strategy:

- Maverick founder -

Terry Gou, once Taiwan's richest man (he ranked 6th this year), started his business in 1974 making television parts.

And the rise of the self-made billionaire -- born to parents who had fled the Communist victory in China's civil war -- mimics the island's phenomenal economic success.

Experts say his aggressive dealmaking style has helped him secure billions of dollars in state funding and support from mainland China to expand his business empire.

Gou ceded control of Foxconn in 2019 to a committee as he pursued an ultimately failed attempt to run for Taiwan's presidency.

- Labour violations -

Foxconn has been embroiled in a series of labour scandals in the past, including a string of suicides at its China plants in 2010 that forced its founder to reassess his harsh management style.

The so-called "suicide nets" introduced to catch Foxconn employees attempting to take their own lives at the time became emblematic of the harsh price many blue collar workers paid for China's rapid economic rise.

The company has also during recent Covid outbreaks been accused of forcing