Foxconn is considering an investment of $7 billion with Apple in an effort to set up a highly automated display manufacturing facility in the United States. This information is reportedly shared by Foxconn’s chairman Terry Gou during an annual year-end party.
The Foxconn chairman said that Apple is willing to invest int he display factory because the company itself is in dire need of display panels. In addition to the display factory, the company is also planning to build up a molding facility in the United Stated, possibly in Pennsylvania – Gou added.
The said facility will provide OLED display manufacturing muscles to both the Foxconn and Apple. It is worth noting that OLED displays are in short supply which is forcing Apple to use it only in the premium Plus model expected to be dubbed as iPhone 8 this year.
The Chairman, however, notes that moving the manufacturing facilities to the US can lead to an increase in cost without necessarily offering performance or quality. So he urges US authorities to provide concessions on land and electricity so that the company may smoothly set up their manufacturing units.
“In the future they may be paying some $500 more for [U.S.] products, but those do not necessarily work better than a $300 phone,†Gou said.
Despite investing to open facilities in the United States, Gou says that Foxconn will remain committed to its investment in China. He further adds that China is world’s biggest market and currently hub for Foxconn’s factory which is responsible for manufacturing over 100 million iPhone units for Apple annually.
It is expected that Gou will be able to use the tiff between US and China over manufacturing iPhones as a leverage to get more concessions from the countries.
A recent report claimed that Foxconn was planning on setting up a manufacturing facility adjacent to Apple’s R&D center in Shenzhen, China for building prototypes.
Via [Nikkei]
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