Foxconn is Allegedly Rethinking Wisconson LCD Manufacturing Plans

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AlphaAtlas

AlphaAtlas

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A report from Reuters suggests that Foxconn Technology Group is "reconsidering" their previously announced plans to manufacture LCD panels in Wisconsin. Instead of hiring factory workers, Foxconn may bring on more researchers and engineers to the Wisconsin Campus, turning it into a "technology hub" instead of a manufacturing center. Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn Chief Executive Terry Gou, told Reuters that "In terms of TV, we have no place in the U.S.," and that they "can't compete," pointing to high U.S. labor costs and other factors.

Rather than manufacturing LCD panels in the United States, Woo said it would be more profitable to make them in greater China and Japan, ship them to Mexico for final assembly, and import the finished product to the United States... Currently, to qualify for the tax credits Foxconn must meet certain hiring and capital investment goals. It fell short of the employment goal in 2018 - hiring 178 full-time jobs rather than the 260 targeted - failing to earn a tax credit of up to $9.5 million. The company may be prepared to walk away from future incentives if it is unable to meet Wisconsin's job creation and capital investment requirements, according to the source familiar with the matter.
 
The podcast Reply All had a great episode about this whole Foxconn thing recently.

Foxconn really screwed that small town over. Those small town residents were promised the world and instead many lost their homes and the town is in massive debt for the next decade or more.
 
Wouldn't it be easier for China to steal US secrets if they had more factories in the States?
 
Sonicks said:
The podcast Reply All had a great episode about this whole Foxconn thing recently.

Foxconn really screwed that small town over. Those small town residents were promised the world and instead many lost their homes and the town is in massive debt for the next decade or more.
Click to expand...

This was predictable, and highlights why large scale manufacturing isn't coming back to the country. At the end of the day, Foxconn got a sweat deal, and everyone else involved comes out looking like morons.
 
NeoNemesis said:
Possibly, but Foxconn is a Taiwanese company and China and Taiwan despise each other.
Click to expand...

Nonsense! They are the same country, under one supreme leader! /s

But seriously, Taiwan has basically been all but absorbed into greater China at this point. China is REALLY cracking down on Taiwan's independence, to the point where they are disqualifying political candidates they don't like. The days where you could speak of Taiwan and China as two different countries is fast coming to an end.
 
gamerk2 said:
Nonsense! They are the same country, under one supreme leader! /s

But seriously, Taiwan has basically been all but absorbed into greater China at this point. China is REALLY cracking down on Taiwan's independence, to the point where they are disqualifying political candidates they don't like. The days where you could speak of Taiwan and China as two different countries is fast coming to an end.
Click to expand...

That's Hong Kong you're thinking of. Taiwan is ready to go to war with China, if necessary, and it could potentially start WW3.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/25/taiwan-can-win-a-war-with-china/
 
I live in WI this is a problem you can't even get people to work at the local Mcdonalds let alone a empty company that is suppose to make LCD panels. Maybe if Fox Con wasn't so big I mean I could understand a small specilized plant. LCD panels make me sick after extended gaming secessions figure that one out.
 
skydriver said:
Haaaahahaahhaaahhaaaaaaahahahaha..... takes deep breath....hahahahhaaahahahhaa..

Anyone thinking this company was going to open a plant in America is an idiot. Next your gonna tell me apple is going to start making iPhones here...lololololol hahahahaha...
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That and your coal jobs are safu.
 
So foxcon does get a 5 figure check from each person in wisconson, but they missed out on a few million because they were short hiring 100 people to sit on their hands...
 
I find it interesting that manufacturing/labor appears to be cheaper in Japan. Aside from that I don't really see this as an issue. Manufacturing jobs suck in general. Looks like this will add more middle income jobs, likely less demanding for long term health to.
 
Comixbooks said:
I live in WI this is a problem you can't even get people to work at the local Mcdonalds let alone a empty company that is suppose to make LCD panels. Maybe if Fox Con wasn't so big I mean I could understand a small specilized plant. LCD panels make me sick after extended gaming secessions figure that one out.
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You have to take breaks to eat and drink water. It isn't the lcd that is making you sick, it is your lack of self care :p Or you need a better monitor.
 
snowcrash said:
We're going to bring manufacturing back.

Foxcon and everyone else that has a brain: Impossible. Too expensive

Where are all the MAGA fanboys? Selling pipedreams.

Let's increase our cost of living ten times and maybe we can have everything made in the USA. We can then sell and buy the products ourselves.
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It's more of we are too reliant on mass produced goods it's not a question of if, but when it melts down.
 
snowcrash said:
Foxcon and everyone else that has a brain: Impossible. Too expensive
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Foxconn knew what it was doing from the get go. It was a money grab for them from.

They scammed that town through and through. Foxconn created hype between a few candidate cities and every city made their bid to get the plant opened in their town but Foxconn was looking for the smallest town of dopes they could pull a fast one on and it worked. They managed to pen a deal that got them their money no matter what. The campus doesn't even have to open and Foxconn will make millions. Meanwhile the town is left for broke and all the deals they made with the townspeople that were promised money for "relocating" their homes is nowhere to be found. Some of them are left homeless without a cent paid to them. Nothing but a scam.

But hey, they get to say they brought manufacturing back to the USA! Ain't it great?
 
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Sonicks said:
Foxconn knew what it was doing from the get go. It was a money grab for them from.
They scammed that town through and through. Foxconn created hype between a few candidate cities and every city made their bid to get the plant opened in their town but Foxconn was looking for the smallest town of dopes they could pull a fast one on and it worked. They managed to pen a deal that got them their money no matter what. The campus doesn't even have to open and Foxconn will make millions. Meanwhile the town is left for broke and all the deals they made with the townspeople that were promised money for "relocating" their homes is nowhere to be found. Some of them are left homeless without a cent paid to them. Nothing but a scam.
But hey, they get to say they brought manufacturing back to the USA! Ain't it great?
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Doesn't matter. I have no sympathy for anyone that thinks we can bring manufacturing back without severe repercussions immediately in the short term. I would have thought the people that believe in maga would have been much smarter than to agree to this pipedream of a deal.

I'm waiting for the bailout that is sure to come from our government. The same party that believe in no bailouts ever and let them fail.
 
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The fun thing here is the former governor who made the agreement with Foxconn, made agreements he can't legally keep. He gave them access to the great lakes in a variety of ways that exceed his authority as stated in the Great Lakes Agreement, so even if they do come to Wisconsin and their build their plant they wont legally be able to operate in the prescribed way without Canada's say so or else they will be faced with heavy operating fines. And given Canada's current reluctance to allow anything that even looks remotely pollutant it would be a very hard sell for something that doesn't benefit us at all.
 
This is what happens when you have non-technical people involved in important decisions. Foxconn swindled these idiots into a deal for an LCD factory... this would have been a sound plan 10 years ago, but the whole industry is moving to OLED panels and this "new" factory won't even be equipped to create those. Foxconn knew exactly what it was doing by proposing this factory in exchange for all the tax credits and empty promises. Now they can shift it to an R&D center, bring in skilled workers from elsewhere in the US (and China). Then meet their employment requirements without ever hiring the poor locals, some of whom had their homes flagged as "blighted" and bulldozed (seriously). Foxconn will get at least some share of its big tax credits, locals will still be without jobs, and nearby services / infrastructure will see much less improvement (no factory = no goods to bring in or out). To top it all off it gives Foxconn a bargaining chip should the trade war between US / China continue long-term.


Sonicks said:
The podcast Reply All had a great episode about this whole Foxconn thing recently.

Foxconn really screwed that small town over. Those small town residents were promised the world and instead many lost their homes and the town is in massive debt for the next decade or more.
Click to expand...

The guy who was head of the city council was so painfully ignorant, I got the sense that he genuinely did not understand project outside of the dollar signs and what he had been spoon fed by his Foxconn handlers.

I feel terrible for the people in that town. I hope the folks who lost their homes at least got taken care of financially.


Lakados said:
The fun thing here is the former governor who made the agreement with Foxconn, made agreements he can't legally keep. He gave them access to the great lakes in a variety of ways that exceed his authority as stated in the Great Lakes Agreement, so even if they do come to Wisconsin and their build their plant they wont legally be able to operate in the prescribed way without Canada's say so or else they will be faced with heavy operating fines. And given Canada's current reluctance to allow anything that even looks remotely pollutant it would be a very hard sell for something that doesn't benefit us at all.
Click to expand...

Had not even heard this info before, not surprising though. What are the odds Foxconn knew this the whole time?
 
SamuelL421 said:
This is what happens when you have non-technical people involved in important decisions. Foxconn swindled these idiots into a deal for an LCD factory... this would have been a sound plan 10 years ago, but the whole industry is moving to OLED panels and this "new" factory won't even be equipped to create those. Foxconn knew exactly what it was doing by proposing this factory in exchange for all the tax credits and empty promises. Now they can shift it to an R&D center, bring in skilled workers from elsewhere in the US (and China). Then meet their employment requirements without ever hiring the poor locals, some of whom had their homes flagged as "blighted" and bulldozed (seriously). Foxconn will get at least some share of its big tax credits, locals will still be without jobs, and nearby services / infrastructure will see much less improvement (no factory = no goods to bring in or out). To top it all off it gives Foxconn a bargaining chip should the trade war between US / China continue long-term.




The guy who was head of the city council was so painfully ignorant, I got the sense that he genuinely did not understand project outside of the dollar signs and what he had been spoon fed by his Foxconn handlers.

I feel terrible for the people in that town. I hope the folks who lost their homes at least got taken care of financially.




Had not even heard this info before, not surprising though. What are the odds Foxconn knew this the whole time?
Click to expand...

They probably did well in advance, if everything else had gone off without a hitch and the plant went ahead as the Governor and city officials imagined, they could have used it as an excuse to back out of the original agreement and still go ahead with the R&D facility while blaming others for it the whole time so they once again come off looking clean.
 
umeng2002 said:
I wonder how many of those "researchers" were H1-B1 hires from other countries?
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Probably most of them as companies based in the US have invested next to nothing in those fields so in general aren't hiring in it overly much. Lack of skilled workers is the biggest hurdle preventing manufacturing from coming back to North America.
 
Sonicks said:
Foxconn knew what it was doing from the get go. It was a money grab for them from.

They scammed that town through and through. Foxconn created hype between a few candidate cities and every city made their bid to get the plant opened in their town but Foxconn was looking for the smallest town of dopes they could pull a fast one on and it worked. They managed to pen a deal that got them their money no matter what. The campus doesn't even have to open and Foxconn will make millions. Meanwhile the town is left for broke and all the deals they made with the townspeople that were promised money for "relocating" their homes is nowhere to be found. Some of them are left homeless without a cent paid to them. Nothing but a scam.

But hey, they get to say they brought manufacturing back to the USA! Ain't it great?
Click to expand...


and hey...

... their stocks are doing great!
 
Instead of paying high wages for manufacturing jobs, let's hire a bunch of engineers and steal US technology for China, nice FK YOU.
 
TangledThornz said:
Wouldn't it be easier for China to steal US secrets if they had more factories in the States?
Click to expand...
FLECOM said:
or you know, people in the USA want to make more than $1/hr

https://www.engadget.com/2014/10/23/efi-underpaying-workers/
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Now now, Foxconn is a Taiwanese multinational corp. They know that they can't just do the typical PRC thing and import Chinese workers and have them slave away at Wisconsin as the Chinese have done across Africa and Eastern Europe.
 
NeoNemesis said:
That's Hong Kong you're thinking of. Taiwan is ready to go to war with China, if necessary, and it could potentially start WW3.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/25/taiwan-can-win-a-war-with-china/
Click to expand...


Heh. One of our games we got delayed an entire year because our Chinese printing company was forced to stop production by the government.
Why? Because we were producing a map with Taiwan (rightfully and historically) depicted as a separate country...

Seriously! You can't make this stuff up!

#FreeTaiwan!
 
Chas said:
Heh. One of our games we got delayed an entire year because our Chinese printing company was forced to stop production by the government.
Why? Because we were producing a map with Taiwan (rightfully and historically) depicted as a separate country...

Seriously! You can't make this stuff up!

#FreeTaiwan!
Click to expand...

I actually find it hilarious that US is a rightful claimant to Taiwan even if US says otherwise. Taiwan was originally turned over from US control to "Republic of China" (Kuomingtang, AKA Chiang Kai-shek) by the Treaty of San Francisco of 1952, which PRC doesn't recognize. Therefore, US actually should have jurisdiction following the end of WW2, which is a claim hasn't been exercised.

edit: reason being is that the PRC does recognize the Japanese surrender where Taiwan was ceded under American control.
 
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