Foxconn shifts focus to research

Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest contractor for electronics and a major supplier to Apple Inc, raised alarm in Wisconsin, the United States, after announcing it will change the focus of its $10 billion display-making factory there from manufacturing to research.

Louis Woo, a special assistant to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, told Reuters that the company would not be building liquid crystal display (LCD) panel screens at the factory and, instead, would devote the building to producing high-tech applications and solutions for security, smart cities, education, medical and healthcare, entertainment and sports.

Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, had promised to create 13,000 jobs when the factory planned for Mount Pleasant, about 48 kilometers south of Milwaukee, was announced in 2017. In January, the company reiterated its intention to hire that many, but that it had slowed its pace of hiring.

It said it was set to employ about 5,200 people by the end of 2020. Woo told Reuters that about threefourths of the jobs created will now be in research and development. Woo added that the company was still evaluating its options for Wisconsin but he cited the steep cost of making advanced TV screens in the United States, where labor expenses are comparatively high.

A spokesman for Foxconn released a statement saying that the company was still committed “to our long-term investment in Wisconsin”.

The company said that it remained committed to creating as many as 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin and would “actively consider opportunities” involving flat-screen technology. But it said it also was “examining ways for Wisconsin’s knowledge workers to promote research and development”.

Foxconn said the switch to more R&D roles was caused by a change in market conditions beginning in 2017. The company said that “this has necessitated the adjustment of plans for all projects, including Wisconsin’’.