Foxconn chief Terry Gou is urging customers out to get the very best smartphone to wait for the release of the iPhone 5. The manufacturer of Apple's new iPhone told China Times: "The new model will put Samsung's Galaxy S III to Shame."
During the annual shareholder's meeting of the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (trading as Foxconn), Gou suggested that with his company's marketing and manufacturing expertise combined with Sharp's key technologies - namely in the display arena - they will be able to completely defeat Samsung in the next three to five years.
And specifically he called for smartphone buyers to hold on at least until later this year, calling on "consumers to wait for the launch of the iPhone 5".
There is no love lost between Hon Hai and Samsung, with Gou previously accusing the Korean company of "snitching on its competitors". In 2010, Samsung is claimed to have given up the names of four Taiwanese manufacturers in a flat panel display price-fixing investigation, itself being made exempt from any further action as a "tainted witness".
Therefore, you can probably take what Gou says with a pinch of salt. However, he also stated during the shareholder's meeting that his company had an exclusivity agreement with Gorilla Glass maker Corning Inc, and that "his competitors will not be able to secure any such material if they wished to". That gives the iPhone 5 (and other products made by Foxconn) at least one advantage over competitors.
