Foxconn reconsidering plans to make LCD panels at Wisconsin plant

“Foxconn Technology Group is reconsidering plans to make advanced liquid crystal display panels at a $10 billion Wisconsin campus, and said it intends to hire mostly engineers and researchers rather than the manufacturing workforce the project originally promised,” Jess Macy Yu and Karl Plume report for Reuters. “Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn Chief Executive Terry Gou, told Reuters… [that] the company was still evaluating options for Wisconsin, but cited the steep cost of making advanced TV screens in the United States, where labor expenses are comparatively high.”
“Rather than a focus on LCD manufacturing, Foxconn wants to create a ‘technology hub’ in Wisconsin that would largely consist of research facilities along with packaging and assembly operations, Woo said,” Yu and Plume report. “It would also produce specialized tech products for industrial, healthcare, and professional applications, he added.”
“Earlier this month, Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple Inc., reiterated its intention to create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin, but said it had slowed its pace of hiring. The company initially said it expected to employ about 5,200 people by the end of 2020; a company source said that figure now looks likely to be closer to 1,000 workers,” Yu and Plume report. “But Woo, in the interview, said about three-quarters of Foxconn’s eventual jobs will be in R&D and design – what he described as ‘knowledge’ positions – rather than blue-collar manufacturing jobs.”
“Currently, to qualify for the tax credits Foxconn must meet certain hiring and capital investment goals. It fell short of the employment goal in 2018 – hiring 178 full-time jobs rather than the 260 targeted – failing to earn a tax credit of up to $9.5 million,” Yu and Plume report. “The company may be prepared to walk away from future incentives if it is unable to meet Wisconsin’s job creation and capital investment requirements, according to the source familiar with the matter.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Foxconn fizzling in Wisconsin?
SEE ALSO:
Foxconn secured permission to withdraw more than 7 million gallons a day from Lake Michigan – August 14, 2018
President Trump gives remarks at groundbreaking of Apple supplier Foxconn’s $10 billion Wisconsin factory – June 28, 2018
President Trump announces Apple supplier Foxconn’s $10 billion investment in Wisconsin and up to 13,000 jobs – July 27, 2017
President Trump to announce Apple-supplier Foxconn manufacturing plant in Wisconsin today at 5pm EDT – July 26, 2017
Apple supplier Foxconn nearing decision to build plant in Wisconsin to produce display panels – July 25, 2017
Made in America iPhones, after all? Apple supplier Foxconn considering iPhone plant in Wisconsin – June 15, 2017
China Premier Li visits Apple supplier Foxconn after CEO’s meeting with President Trump – May 10, 2017
Foxconn-Sharp considering LCD plant in USA, plans in response to President-elect Trump’s ‘Make in America’ call – January 13, 2017
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “TJ” for the heads up.]