Foxconn announced plans to snap up a $390 million stake in Taiwanese mobile operator Asia Pacific Telecom.
Foxconn, Apple’s primary manufacturing partner, will take on 582.9 million Asia Pacific shares before the two companies fully merge through a share swap, according to Reuters. The merger is scheduled to take place by June 20.
Ambit Microsystems, the subsidiary of Foxconn responsible for 4G deployment, will be the company buying Asia Pacific. Ambit last year won 20 MHz of wireless spectrum at auction in Taiwan. The company paid $312 million for the airwaves.
Buying the spectrum, and now buying into an existing Taiwanese carrier, marks Foxconn’s continued expansion away from its manufacturing focus.
The supplier’s move to expand into the Taiwanese mobile market comes as Apple is said to be prepping two new larger iPhones for 2014. Reports have suggested that Apple is ordering from Foxconn up to 90 million units of the new smartphones.
Foxconn last year scored another high-profile U.S. manufacturing agreement when it inked a deal with BlackBerry to makes its phone targeted toward emerging markets.
