Terry Gou hopes it's second time lucky for FIT Hon Teng

Terry Gou's Hon Hai has always been investors' ultimate Apple proxy, but the latest spin-off from the world's largest contract manufacturer is as much about data centres and electric cars as it is about the forthcoming iPhone 8.

Pre-marketing began on Monday for an initial public offering of Hon Hai's connector business plugs, jacks and connector leads, which should raise in the range of $300 million to $500 million based on initial estimates. 

This is a far cry from the $1 billion Hon Hai hoped to raise when it first filed its application for FIT Hon Teng, formerly known as Foxconn Interconnect Technology,...