Foxconn seeks expansion to US as Apple gears up for made-in-America Macs

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
As Apple plans to begin building one full line of Macs in the U.S. in 2013, the company's primary assembly partner, Foxconn, is working to expand its operations in America.

A spokesperson for Foxconn indicated to Bloomberg that its partners have requested that more products be built stateside. Luis Woo said that challenges for Foxconn include a need for skilled engineers in America.

"We're looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there," Woo said without naming specific clients.

The comments come as Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has revealed that his company will spend $100 million to produce one entire line of Macs in the U.S. next year. Cook declined to say exactly which Mac product will be built domestically.

Foxconn


"We've been working on this for a long time, and we're getting closer to it. It will happen in 2013," he said. "We're really proud of it. We could have quickly maybe done just assembly, but it's broader because we wanted to do something more substantial."

Cook's comments indicate that assembly, which is handled by Foxconn, will only be part of Apple's solution, suggesting that Apple's investment could also be related to individual components. Earlier this year, AppleInsider offered an in-depth look at how iPhone parts are made across the globe before they are assembled for the final product in China.

The comments from Foxconn also lend support to a rumor from last month that claimed the Taiwan-based manufacturing company was looking to establish new plants in America. Specifically cited as potential locations were Los Angeles, Calif., and Detroit, Mich.

Cook
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook personally visited a Foxconn factory in China earlier this year.


Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn, also revealed at a public event that his company is planning a training program for U.S.-based engineers. Through a planned partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Foxconn hopes to bring American engineers to Taiwan or China to be involved in product design or manufacturing.

Companies such as Apple have come under fire for their reliance on Chinese labor for the assembly of popular electronic devices. Critics have contended that wages are too low, and have pointed to employee suicides as evidence of poor working conditions.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 49
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member


    Heh...want to bet they'll pay better and offer more benefits than Walmart.

  • Reply 2 of 49
    Detroit, Michigan? Really??
  • Reply 3 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post



    Detroit, Michigan? Really??


    Why not? Plenty of ex car assembly workers there.

  • Reply 4 of 49


    Yep, the Detroit area has a sh!t ton of unemployed skilled workers.  Also a good number of engineering schools thanks to the auto companies.  Assembly lines don't need MIT engineers, they just need solid engineers.  MI is also used to giving manufacturing companies ginormous tax breaks for moving production into MI (or keeping it here).

  • Reply 5 of 49
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member


    God I hope not, I'd loose all respect for Apple if they went to Detroit.   They, they being Apple and Foxconn, would be far better off looking towards smaller cities across America where people are still willing to work and don't have the need to support reckless unions.


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post



    Detroit, Michigan? Really??

  • Reply 6 of 49
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by UrbanVerb View Post




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post



    Detroit, Michigan? Really??


    Why not? Plenty of ex car assembly workers there.


     



    Exactly, car assembly workers are the whole problem with locating in Detroit.    There are plenty of places within the US where new factories could be located without getting involved with the ignorance of the UAW work force.   I'm not against unions here, I'm against unions that protect lazy shiftless workers and in general do more harm with respect to the companies that employee their worker than good.

  • Reply 7 of 49


    I'd guess the line of Macs that they would make stateside would be the Mac Pro.  It's a lower volume unit that customers are already used to paying a premium price for.  And the manufacturing isn't as difficult as some of the more detailed products.


     


    Detroit would be a fine location to look at, since there is a glut of unemployed workers there that have manufacturing experience.

  • Reply 8 of 49
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post



    Detroit, Michigan? Really??


     


    Bad idea.  Better to go with LA.  


     


    All those Chinese workers will blend in better.  Larger Asian-American population in LA.

  • Reply 9 of 49
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    There's $1 B off the U.S. trade deficit (or more, depending on which product they produce).
  • Reply 10 of 49
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Brian Jojade View Post


    I'd guess the line of Macs that they would make stateside would be the Mac Pro.  It's a lower volume unit that customers are already used to paying a premium price for.  And the manufacturing isn't as difficult as some of the more detailed products.



     


    How about making the Apple big-screen TV in the US?


     


    It will probably sell in higher volume than the Mac Pro, but it should be much easier to assemble because miniaturization isn't a critical design factor.

  • Reply 11 of 49
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    nht wrote: »
    Heh...want to bet they'll pay better and offer more benefits than Walmart.

    Not working at all will get you better pay and benefits than working at Walmart.
  • Reply 12 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    Exactly, car assembly workers are the whole problem with locating in Detroit.    There are plenty of places within the US where new factories could be located without getting involved with the ignorance of the UAW work force.   I'm not against unions here, I'm against unions that protect lazy shiftless workers and in general do more harm with respect to the companies that employee their worker than good.



     


    You fooled me.  I thought you were against unions in general. 


     


    Being from the area, I agree that they are generally overpaid and spoiled, and given to whining, but while some are "lazy and shiftless," most are not.  As for them doing harm to companies, GM does plenty of harm to themselves with their lazy, shiftless, and ignorant executives.  If you put GM's management in charge of selling heroin, they would fu[k that up, too.  A bunch of entitled pricks is what they are.  I know several engineers employed at GM, and they say it's a constant struggle to keep good ideas from getting killed by management.  Many a promising prototype has been killed when an excutive has seen it and freaked because the styling isn't conservative enough, or the dashboard is "too boring", i.e., functional.  

  • Reply 13 of 49
    [B]The Detroit area is where Element Electronics has started assembling TV in the U.S. [/B]earlier this year - they are the only TV company assembling TVs in the United States. This shows that other companies have looked to Detroit as an area to make it work, so it makes sense that it's a consideration for Foxconn and Apple as well.
  • Reply 14 of 49
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    You fooled me.  I thought you were against unions in general. 

    Being from the area, I agree that they are generally overpaid and spoiled, and given to whining, but while some are "lazy and shiftless," most are not.  As for them doing harm to companies, GM does plenty of harm to themselves with their lazy, shiftless, and ignorant executives.  If you put GM's management in charge of selling heroin, they would fu[k that up, too.  A bunch of entitled pricks is what they are.  I know several engineers employed at GM, and they say it's a constant struggle to keep good ideas from getting killed by management.  Many a promising prototype has been killed when an excutive has seen it and freaked because the styling isn't conservative enough, or the dashboard is "too boring", i.e., functional.  

    I'm sure it isn't just GM with brilliant idea killing executives. The guys with the Xbox idea had to go straight to Gates to get it approved. Their immediate manager was dead set against it.
  • Reply 15 of 49
    Its a natural progression. As China becomes more prosperous and wages there rise, the United States becomes relatively more competitive. Its the same with the Japanese car manufacturers that now assemble cards in the USA. Add declining wages in the USA due to the ongoing recession and it gets even more attractive. If they are smart, they will locate in a low tax state with right to work laws to ensure ongoing competitiveness.
  • Reply 16 of 49


    Michigan ranks fourth in the U.S. in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers, which includes 70,000 in the automotive industry.

  • Reply 17 of 49
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    So happy to see this. It's not that I'm totally against products being made in China though there are too many products made there and it's getting annoying.
  • Reply 18 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post


     


    Bad idea.  Better to go with LA.  


     


    All those Chinese workers will blend in better.  Larger Asian-American population in LA.



    Racist.

  • Reply 19 of 49


    Very good news. 

  • Reply 20 of 49

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by huffcw View Post



    The Detroit area is where Element Electronics has started assembling TV in the U.S. earlier this year - they are the only TV company assembling TVs in the United States. This shows that other companies have looked to Detroit as an area to make it work, so it makes sense that it's a consideration for Foxconn and Apple as well.


    given that Apple's not into boat shipping product, TVs and MacPros are good US sited manufacturing.  


     


    The problem with 'small town' locations for factories is turnover problems.  The lack of infrastructure and often a service industry to both support and quickly grow with an influx of income and families (often growing as the 2nd/3rd income of a family).  Urban factories are smarter in the big picture in terms of controlling sprawl, utilizing mass transit, and faster startup time (more potential employees, likely the infrastructure is in place, university/college/tech training etc).


     


    Detroit is a reasonable location, and having other electronics assembly in the area brings critical mass.  Cost of living is much lower than Silicon Valley or LA/SoCal.

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