Foxconn is looking to beef up its presence in the US according to some recent comments made by Terry Gou. During an event marking the company’s 40th anniversary, the chairman said they were exploring the possibly of opening a large display plant in the country.
The manufacturing giant already has a handful of factories scattered across the US, but this particular facility would be capable of producing TV-sized display panels over 60-inches. And the move could save Foxconn’s American clients millions of dollars in shipping costs…
From The Wall Street Journal:
“TAIPEI— Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. 2317.TW -0.12% , which assembles gadgets for Apple Inc. AAPL +0.54% and other global technology firms, is evaluating a plan to build an advanced display manufacturing plant in the U.S., its chairman said.
Terry Gou, speaking to reporters at the company’s 40th anniversary gathering on Sunday, said Hon Hai, also known by the trade name Foxconn, plans to relocate capital-intensive and high-tech manufacturing to the U.S., its largest market.”
What’s interesting to me here is that for the longest time, people have been shooting down iTV rumors due to the fact that making larger TVs is typically a low-margin business. And one of the reasons for that is due to high shipping costs. This would certainly help with that.
But iTV or not, a display manufacturing plant in the US sounds like it’d be a win for everyone. In addition to the shipping savings, companies like Sharp—who Foxconn has invested large amounts of money in—would be able to mark their sets with ‘Made in the USA’ branding.