Foxconn — the manufacturer responsible for bolting together most of Apple’s products — is planning to build a factory on US soil, reports the New York Times.
The company’s move comes after US President Donald Trump’s call for companies to build their products in America, with the plant set to be built in Wisconsin. It could be as large as three Pentagons. Yeah, that Pentagon.
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Numbers quoted includes at least 3000 jobs created by the project, and US$10-billion worth of investment forked into the US by the company. And that’s pretty big for the country’s waning manufacturing industry.
Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn will open a US-based factory in Wisconsin
After the announcement, Donald Trump took to Twitter to thank Foxconn.
Thank you Foxconn, for investing $10 BILLION DOLLARS with the potential for up to 13K new jobs in Wisconsin! MadeInTheUSA
pic.twitter.com/jJghVeb63s — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2017
Foxconn — the world’s largest electronics manufacturer — employs around 1.3-million people globally, with revenue exceeding US$135-billion in 2016.
While the company is a behemoth, it’s weakness is also its strength. It saw its first revenue slump in over a decade when Apple’s iPhone sales took a knock in 2016.
As for Apple, it didn’t specify if it would be using the US-based factory, nor did the likes of Nintendo (for its Switch console) or Sony (for its PlayStation consoles). However future announcements can’t be ruled out completely.
As for the catalyst for Foxconn’s investment, there’s one particular man who took credit.
“If I didn’t get elected, he [Foxconn CEO Terry Gou – ed] definitely wouldn’t be spending $10 billion,” Trump noted, quoted by the New York Times.
