Rumor: Foxconn May Establish Factories in USA
There's a rumor that Foxconn is looking to set up North American factories to focus on LCD TVs.
DigiTimes is the source of the latest Foxconn rumor, reporting that the China-based contract electronics manufacturer, also known as Hon Hai, is planning to build factories in the United States. Currently Apple's prized iPhone manufacturer is evaluating cities such as Detroit and Los Angeles as potential camps.
Unnamed "market watchers" informed DigiTimes that, because Apple's smartphones and tablets are so difficult to make, the company needs these North American-based plants to focus on LCD TV production. These factories will reportedly be highly automated and easier to manage.
Whether news of North American Foxconn factories is true or not remains to be seen. Many times these DigiTimes articles are a hit or miss, and Time has even pointed out that "16 of these 25 [tech] stories turned out to be mostly or completely off-base. Five are largely or entirely correct. And four involve predictions that might yet come true."
Yet even if Foxconn is planning to build factories in the US, wouldn't it make sense that they'd focus on Apple's products instead of LCD TVs? Not necessarily if these American factories are heavily automated. Remember that many Americans are without jobs because it's cheaper for big-name corporations to use workers overseas.
That said, Foxconn could potentially make less money building iPhones and iPads here in the States using local workers, thus charging Apple more who in turn would charge consumers more for their favorite gadgets. An automated solution for making Apple's devices seems to be out of the question given their "difficulty" to manufacture.
However the current Foxconn rumor is seemingly backed by Foxconn chairman Terry Guo who reportedly said at a recent public event that the company is planning to launch a training program for US-based engineers.
According to Guo, these "students" will be brought to Taiwan or China and taught how to communicate in Chinese and given first-hand experience in the manufacturing process. They won't remain overseas indefinitely – Guo said they'll return to the States with "training that can be helpful". Currently the company is in talks with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Does this mean Foxconn is getting future workers ready for its North American-based manufacturing plants? Time will tell if the DigiTimes story is right on the money, or another miss.
-
ddpruitt This is about as believable as Apple letting users freely jailbreak Iphones and installing MacOS on any computer.Reply -
john_4 Last time I checked the USA has no current capacity to build any of this stuff anymore. But it is good news if it is true.Reply -
sixdegree Just remember to allocate couple hundred billions dollars to fend off the lawsuits from various interest groups and other entities, Foxconn. Welcome to USA.Reply -
sacre lol oh look its already happening, the US is turning into China. Low wages, long hours, massive factories. I would be surprised if they shipped chinese over and had them work for low wages in the factories.Reply
The hell is going on -
john_4 battlecrymoderngearsolidWho will work for those wages?Lots of Americans are willing to work for a fair wage but it's when the leach unions move in (siphon off millions in union dues and fees) then demand $40 an hour with full benefits and tons of paid vacation time for someone sitting there twisting screws into a plate, that ruins it for sure and one of the reasons so many companies have left the USA. No company in it's right mind would not put up with that. Over the top government regulations from the EPA to OSHA and over the top (was the highest, maybe second now) tax rate in the world. 3 of the main strikes saying to any business that it isn't worth it to manufacture in the USA any more.Reply -
Kami3k john_4Lots of Americans are willing to work for a fair wage but it's when the leach unions move in (siphon off millions in union dues and fees) then demand $40 an hour with full benefits and tons of paid vacation time for someone sitting there twisting screws into a plate, that ruins it for sure and one of the reasons so many companies have left the USA. No company in it's right mind would not put up with that. Over the top government regulations from the EPA to OSHA and over the top (was the highest, maybe second now) tax rate in the world. 3 of the main strikes saying to any business that it isn't worth it to manufacture in the USA any more.Reply
Oh you again with your clueless drivel.