FILE PHOTO Logos of Foxconn and Ennoconn are seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei FILE PHOTO Logos of Foxconn and Ennoconn are seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei
Beijing - Foxconn Technology Group is considering
building a US display-making facility for upwards of $7 billion, a major
investment for Apple’s main manufacturer that may create tens of thousands of
American jobs during President Donald Trump’s first year in office.
The company is considering a joint investment with Sharp
Corp., the Japanese display supplier it bought last year, but details have yet
to be hammered out, Reuters cited Chairman Terry Gou as telling reporters in
Taipei on the sidelines of a company event. Foxconn confirmed the report
Monday.
An investment by Foxconn, whose main listed unit is Hon
Hai Precision Industry Company, would mark a victory for Trump, who’s
repeatedly blasted China for stealing American jobs and devastating US
manufacturing. But Foxconn is one of the single largest private employers in
China and the government there has conveyed its concern over the possibility
that it will shift investment away from the country.
China is pivotal to Foxconn’s massive electronics
assembly operation, which cranks out more iPhones and iPads than any other in
the world. Foxconn has said it’s in preliminary discussions to broaden its
investment in the US, without elaborating. Trump has often articulated his
vision of bringing manufacturing jobs back to America from China, which became
the world’s factory floor thanks to cheap labour and central policy support.
And he’s singled out Apple in the past.
Read also: Foxconn to set up shop in US
A potential strategic shift by Foxconn unnerves Chinese
authorities because the company employs roughly a million workers across the
country. Major factory job cuts have been known to trigger protests in the
past, even as maintaining social stability remains among the top priorities of
the ruling Communist Party.
For now, Foxconn’s prospective US plans remain
preliminary. The envisioned facility could cost more than $7 billion and may
create 30 000 to 50 000 jobs, according to Gou. It would also bring
manufacturing closer to the largest market for iPhones and iPads, a potential
boon for Apple, which yields about half Hon Hai’s revenue. The plant could
be a joint investment with Apple, the Nikkei Asian Review reported Monday.
Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The idea took shape after Gou spoke with Masayoshi Son,
chairman of SoftBank Group and a close business partner. Son, who’s announced
his own plan to invest $50 billion in the US, asked Gou for his views. A
document Son held up for reporters after a December meeting with Trump included
the words “Foxconn” and “$7 billion” alongside SoftBank’s numbers.
“I thought it was a private conversation, but then the
next morning it was exposed,” Gou told reporters according to Reuters. “There
is such a plan, but it is not a promise. It is a wish.”
On Sunday, Gou also told reporters he sees American
protectionism as “inevitable” and warned about the subsequent threat to
economic development.