What They Say
To the surprise of nobody in the display analyst community, we suspect, Reuters reported that Foxconn has formally acknowledged that its planned ‘Wisconsin project’, backed by ex-President Trump, will not be at the scale originally discussed. The investment has been reduced from $10 billion to $672 million and the number of jobs from 13,000 to 1,454.
Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision, said the new agreement gives it “flexibility to pursue business opportunities in response to changing global market conditions.” The company said: “Original projections used during negotiations in 2017 have at this time changed due to unanticipated market fluctuations.”
Before the news, Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way had told reporters in Taipei that the company currently makes servers, communications technology products and medical devices in Wisconsin, adding that electric vehicles (EVs) have a “promising future” there.
What We Think
Well, I almost could have imagined some kind of vertical market development in Wisconsin, but the big fab talk never rang true with me. I had some exposure to plans to build LCD fabs in Southern Europe more than a decade ago, so had some idea of the challenges in terms of a supply chain. (BR)
