Gadget game
Foxconn builds the future
Good morning, device dynamos. This is your Stock Market Rundown for April 10th, 2024. Thanks for tuning in. Let’s get going:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: ASSEMBLING THE WORLD’S TECH TOYS
Did you know Apple didn’t make your iPhone? Sure, it was designed in sunny Cupertino, California. But the grunt work of building and assembling the components was done at one of the many Chinese factories owned by Foxconn.
You name it, and if it’s electronic, Foxconn builds it—from laptops, to tablets, to digital cameras. And if you’re a gamer, Foxconn is by your side when you defeat the final boss—it manufactures the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch consoles.
The business was founded in 1974 by Terry Gou, who borrowed $7,500 from his mother to start injection-molding plastic knobs for black-and-white televisions.
By the 1990s, thanks to the global boom in computing, Foxconn grew exponentially, and now employs more than a million workers.
Foxconn’s got a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. It’s unveiled prototypes of electric cars, dabbled in farming automation, and developed medical devices. But the main reason its stock has been on an upswing lately is the enterprise servers it builds for AI applications.
Wall Street analysts expect 2024 will be a bumper year for AI tooling, boosting Foxconn’s bottom line. With Foxconn behind so many devices, if technology ever goes rogue and decides to take over the world, we'll know exactly who assembled the robot army.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Fed chief Jerome Powell says more data is needed before the US central bank rate-cutting party gets started. Apparently, the Fed’s crystal ball needs a software update.
If there are any leprechauns left over from St. Patrick’s Day, now’s an ideal time to catch one. The price of gold hit an all-time high due to rate-cut anticipation, plus geopolitical tensions making it glitter as a safe haven.
BMW and Tata have announced a deal to jointly develop automotive software. Soon we’ll have cars so “smart”, they can simultaneously parallel park and tutor your kids in math.
Costco is getting into the weight-watching business, and will provide store members with diet drugs and services. Look, weighing in is the last thing I want to think about when I’m buying a gallon jar of mayonnaise or a gross of Mars Bars.
And with that, today's chapter ends. Join me again tomorrow for the sequel. Yours in capitalism, The Axe
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