Apple is considering embarking on a $7 billion investment journey with the Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, which is responsible for much of Apple’s display production, according to reports.
The Nikkei Asian Review discusses quotes out of Foxconn’s annual end-of-year party where journalists were present. The company’s chairman Terry Gou supposedly said that Apple wanted to produce a US facility which could provide 30-50,000 US-based jobs.
Partially down to the increased demand for larger display panels, particularly OLED displays which Apple is seeking to acquire inventory of for the next iPhone, and also, likely, down to President Donald Trump’s increase in US protectionism. However, Gou did question whether consumers would be happy paying more for projects manufactured in the US – up to $500 more, said Gou.
However, though Gou also mentions a new molding facility in the US, potentially in Pennsylvania, and the move of Smart Technologies, a Canadian start-up controlled by Foxconn to the US, the company would remain in China.
In his campaign, Trump wanted Apple to move all its manufacturing to the US. Though it’s unlikely existing partners would uproot entirely. As Gou is noted as saying in the reports: “China is the world’s biggest market, and why should we turn down the biggest market?”
Apple could bring up to 50,000 jobs to the US in potential deal with display-maker Foxconn. https://t.co/UCNYllMLlC pic.twitter.com/r6u80EK0CQ
— TapSmart (@TapSmart) January 23, 2017