Foxconn, Apple’s long-term partner for assembling iPhones, said today it’ll start manufacturing ventilators in the US to help healthcare agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Taiwan-based company, formally known as Hon Hai Precision, will produce ventilators designed by the US-based medical device company, Medtronic.
The medical device company’s CEO, Omar Ishrak, told CNBC about this partnership today and said the Taiwanese company’s Wisconson plant will be used for this initiative.
He also added that the company has open-sourced the design of its PB-560 ventilator, and it plans to ramp up production in its own factories to reach the goal of producing 1,000 units
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Foxconn confirmed the development in a statement, but didn’t mention when and where it’ll start producing ventilators.
With this, the manufacturer joins a bunch of other companies trying to put their facilities to use for producing ventilators to help meet the needs of hospitals and healthcare facilities amid the coronavirus crisis.
Earlier this week, Tesla engineers showed off a prototype ventilator made using car parts. Last month, Ford said it’ll produce 50,000 ventilators in the coming 100 days. Its rival General Motors is also building such devices in its factory located in Kokomo, Indiana. In addition to that, the Virgin Orbit satellite company is also working with a group of doctors to build a low-cost ventilator.
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