Blow to semiconductor industry.. iPhone’s largest aggregator cancels $19.4 billion deal

Taiwan electronics giant Foxconn withdrew from a $19.4 billion deal with Indian semiconductor maker Vedanta due to “hard gaps,” it announced today.

But Foxconn said “the parties mutually agreed to secede,” adding that “there was recognition on both sides that the project was not going fast enough, there were difficult gaps that we could not overcome smoothly, as well as external problems unrelated to the project.”

Foxconn would not suffer a loss due to the withdrawal because it “did not inject capital or fixed assets into the joint venture”, the statement said, while Vedanta did not confirm the withdrawal, and reiterated that it was “fully committed to its semiconductor prefabricated project”, adding that there were other partners in line to establish India’s first foundry.

“Vedanta has redoubled its efforts to realize PM Modi’s semiconductor vision, as India will remain central to the rearrangement of global semiconductor supply chains,” the company spokesman said, adding that Vedanta now has a technology license to create 40 nm, and we will soon receive a license to produce 28 nm as well.

To join the semiconductor race, India in late 2021 approved a $10 billion incentive plan to start its domestic industry by agreeing to cover up to half of all project costs.