The centers for research and development will, among other things, reside in Tokyo and Osaka. These centers will serve to improve the development of screens, optical touch screen technology and sensors. Japan was chosen because of the wide experience in the area of the screen and associated technologies, while Foxconn's business model is increasingly turning to vertical integration and complete control of all steps of production, from development and manufacturing of components to final products.

The company has recently invested in a Chinese company Shenchao Photoelectric and Tianyi Display Technology, as well as in Taiwanese Wcube, also linked with screens and touchscreen technology. In addition, Foxconn has already signed an agreement with NEC about licensing patents for LCD panels.

[Ed - Not that long ago Foxconn’s CEO made a claim that they were working to cut out the competition in the next few years. This comment was made in reference to their partnership with Apple and the preproduction of the iPhone 5, but it seems that the move could also be related to any product they manufacture for another company. If they are able to pull this off and IF Apple can gracefully separate from their dependence on Samsung things could get very interesting in the mobile market starting around 2015. The problem that consumers will face is one of saturation; by that time there will simply be too many products with similar specifications to make buying a new phone or tablet worth the time or effort. We expect any move to consolidate manufacturing the way that Foxconn is to only make this worse…]

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