Foxconn's Wisconsin plant could make Apple iPhone and Mac displays after all
Originally intended to churn out larger displays for products like TVs, Foxconn's upcoming $10 billion Wisconsin factory may actually turn to making small- to medium-sized panels for the likes of Apple and automakers in a bid to cut costs, a report claimed on Wednesday.
Apple CEO Tim Cook at a Chinese Foxconn factory.
Large panels would have required a more robust U.S. supply chain and a higher initial spend on equipment, said Nikkei, citing people familiar with the matter. One source noted that earlier plans would've required a company like Corning to set up a nearby glass substrate facility, since safely shipping large glass panels would've been difficult.
Foxconn owns display maker Sharp, which supplies the some small iPhone screens, and a large amount of iPad displays. At present, Sharp does not appear to be in the running for displays for the 2018 iPhone refresh.
Nikkei's sources also suggest that Foxconn is looking to supply iPhone screens from the Wisconsin plant after it goes live. Shipping parts overseas for assembly would likely be a deal-breaker, negating much of the point of U.S. component manufacture.
Apple has limited manufacturing in the U.S. The company's current Mac Pro is being assembled in plants in Texas. There is no indication that there is any current assembly of completed goods like the MacBook or MacBook Pro in the U.S.
Conceivably, Foxconn could still turn to making TV panels, simply shipping half-finished LCD display cells elsewhere.
Samsung and possibly LG are expected to produce OLED panels for two 2018 iPhone models, sized at 5.8 and 6.5 inches. To date Samsung has been the exclusive OLED supplier for the iPhone X, as the only company with enough capacity to meet Apple's demands. Apple is also believed to be working on a 6.1-inch LCD iPhone.
Construction on the Wisconsin factory should start on June 28.
Apple CEO Tim Cook at a Chinese Foxconn factory.
Large panels would have required a more robust U.S. supply chain and a higher initial spend on equipment, said Nikkei, citing people familiar with the matter. One source noted that earlier plans would've required a company like Corning to set up a nearby glass substrate facility, since safely shipping large glass panels would've been difficult.
Foxconn owns display maker Sharp, which supplies the some small iPhone screens, and a large amount of iPad displays. At present, Sharp does not appear to be in the running for displays for the 2018 iPhone refresh.
Nikkei's sources also suggest that Foxconn is looking to supply iPhone screens from the Wisconsin plant after it goes live. Shipping parts overseas for assembly would likely be a deal-breaker, negating much of the point of U.S. component manufacture.
Apple has limited manufacturing in the U.S. The company's current Mac Pro is being assembled in plants in Texas. There is no indication that there is any current assembly of completed goods like the MacBook or MacBook Pro in the U.S.
Conceivably, Foxconn could still turn to making TV panels, simply shipping half-finished LCD display cells elsewhere.
Samsung and possibly LG are expected to produce OLED panels for two 2018 iPhone models, sized at 5.8 and 6.5 inches. To date Samsung has been the exclusive OLED supplier for the iPhone X, as the only company with enough capacity to meet Apple's demands. Apple is also believed to be working on a 6.1-inch LCD iPhone.
Construction on the Wisconsin factory should start on June 28.
Comments
LG makes OLED phone displays that are crap. Sharp isn’t making much in OLED, and this new plant won’t be in operation for a while yet, and we don’t know what they will be making. The only reason why they MIGHT make LCD phone displays, a technology Apple is moving away from, is because Tv sales have been shrinking, and you need product out the door for a $10 billion factory.
Well, as Cook has shown, Apple’s products are mostly made in the USA. Having bought more than $50 billion in USA sourced parts and materials for their products here in 2017, that makes for the bulk of Apple’s product material costs.
people continue to think that product assembly means product manufacture. It really doesn’t. That’s just the last stage before boxing. It’s estimated that for an iPhone, that accounts for between $6 and $9 of the phones’ value. That’s out of about $200 to $375 per phone, depending on model, for parts, most of which is coming from right here.
As for the type of screens to be produced dont count on rumors or even company statements. Screen technologies sre advancing rapidly as such we may never know what variant of LCD, OLED or whatever will actually ship out of the plant. Billions are going into display tech research all over the world, consummers have yet to see the ultimate display.