Foxconn denies report of cuts
Japanese business publication removes information contending manufacturer wanted to cut costs
A Japan-based business publication retreated Wednesday on an article saying Foxconn Technology Group is considering cutting back its initial investment in its planned electronics factory in Wisconsin.
Citing “people familiar with the matter,” Nikkei Asian Review originally reported that Foxconn was considering shifting its product mix in Wisconsin to lower initial costs at the $10 billion manufacturing complex.
But after Foxconn denied any change in its investment plans, Nikkei revised its article, deleting the assertion that the company was seeking to lower its initial costs.
The first report touched off a flurry of reaction in Wisconsin’s highly charged political environment, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker is pointing to Foxconn as a keystone of his economic-development and job-creation efforts, and some Democrats are denouncing the roughly $4 billion in state and local subsidies that have been extended to the company.
Wednesday, Foxconn said it remains “fully committed” to its planned investment in Wisconsin and to meeting its contractual obligations with state and local government.
“Foxconn can categorically state that our commitment to create 13,000 jobs and to invest US$10 billion to build our state-of-the-art Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park in Wisconsin remains unchanged,” the company said in a statement.
Nikkei Asian Review, meanwhile, let stand the less-incendiary part of its report — that Foxconn is considering shifting the production focus at the Wisconsin plant from large display panels to small and medium-sized panels.
In its statement, Foxconn hinted that its Wisconsin product mix might evolve. The firm said it always responds to customer needs, and that its phased approach to building the Racine County manufacturing campus would “ensure
that we continue to meet current and projected demand for advanced (liquid crystal display) panels.”
The Wisconsin factory will make LCD panels for a wide range of applications, Foxconn said. Among those mentioned by the company Wednesday were notebooks — a small-screen product.
But small devices conceivably could be made in the same plant that can kick out very large panels, too. Foxconn’s contract with Racine County and Mount Pleasant, meanwhile, says the company will build just such a plant — a so-called “Generation 10.5” LCD factory.
Generation 10.5 refers to the size of the initial sheet of glass produced at an LCD factory, with the sheet then cut into smaller pieces for use in the ultimate products.
The sheets of glass produced by a Generation 10.5 plant measure 11 feet by more than 9 feet — an efficient size for making large panels measuring more than 65 inches diagonally.
By comparison, a Generation 6 LCD plant — a type of factory Foxconn also has considered building in the United States — produces sheets of glass measuring roughly 5 feet by 6 feet.