As I recall, Apple was under a lot of pressure at the time of the Wisconsin announcement to abandon FoxConn and invest some of their surplus billions to have some Apple products manufactured in the US.
By claiming they’d build a plant here, FoxConn took a lot of pressure off of Apple and at the same time prevented the creation of a potential competitor in electronics manufacturing.
Telling trump they reconsidered their decision to give up on the plant is just another pressure relief exercise for FoxConn.
Indeed. Trump can make all the phone calls he wants, but there’s still no way to make LCD panels in WI at a competitive price. Or maybe Trump is contemplating a 1000% tariff on imported panels?
I’ve been wondering if that’s the end-game of worshiping supply-side economics. Under that philosophy, you don’t need to be good at business, understand customers, support innovation, think long-term, etc. Instead, you believe all it takes to succeed is to simply be a “supplier”.
Although I haven’t been following manufacturing engineering closely for a while, my understanding is that the use of robots to build the smaller screens is a solved problem. As you get to the larger sizes things get floppy and human participation may be more necessary. So the smaller plant could have very few people indeed. And, about the time people are asking whether it’s finished, business conditions may have changed in a way that no one could have anticipated, leading it to be closed before it ever opens. (And no one look at the machinery that’s ostensible being scrapped)
Before Trump Meeting: Foxconn tells the truth, admits that it won’t be building a factory.
After Trump Meeting: Foxconn lies, say that they will be building a factory.
A maneuver to save political face is not adequate to support the profitability of a business. Manufacturing flat screens at this facility is not economically competitive for Foxconn now, and it won’t be in the future without significant cost reduction or further subsidies. Therefore, this change is short-lived. Just another illusion/delusion.
