Skip to main content

Foxconn's US manufacturing invasion could start with Vizio TVs

Foxconn's US manufacturing invasion could start with Vizio TVs

Share this story

super hi-vision 1020 stock
super hi-vision 1020 stock

Foxconn looks likely to begin manufacturing large-screen TVs in the US. Last month the company's chairman, Terry Gou, said the manufacturing giant was "studying the feasibility" of opening a display manufacturing plant in the US, but according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Gou is now more bullish on the possibility. "We have many big projects in the US coming up," says the chairman. "For instance, is it possible to make our 120-inch TVs in Taiwan and ship them over? It’s impossible. We have to make them on site."

"We have to make them on site."

Foxconn already has a silent presence in the US; a partnership sees the Taiwanese company manufacture many of Vizio's panels in Asia. Last month, Vizio and Foxconn demonstrated a 120-inch 4K TV at CES, and it appears that Foxconn's chairman believes the only way that TV and similar models will make it to US stores will be if they're made in the country.

A new TV plant in the US would represent a major investment in the country's marginalized electronics manufacturing industry. Foxconn previously announced plans to open a $30 million facility in Pennsylvania that will employ 500. That plant is focused chiefly on research and development, an area that should be bolstered by a partnership with a further $10 million investment in research at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. Foxconn has also been meeting with Google recently to discuss a partnership in advanced manufacturing robotics, something that could be important for the creation of electronics in a country with relatively expensive labor when compared to China.