Foxconn plans $63m investment in cloud computing

Foxconn, the Taiwan-based electronics manufacturing giant best known for producing Apple's iPhone 4 smartphone and iPad 2 tablet, is planning a move into cloud computing.

The company plans to invest more than $63 million over five years developing a 1.85-hectare site in Taiwan that will eventually employ 3,000 software engineers developing cloud-based software for itself and clients, according to a report in Digitimes.

Sources close to the company say the site will comprise a cloud computing facility, a software development centre focusing on digital content, storage solutions, cloud computing, security software and environmental protection, plus a "technological innovation incubation center".