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As the new year Rolls further, Tech giants are speeding up
collaborations to Remain at the top of business in the
telecommunications sector. As we all know, ICT happens to rule the
world as the world today runs businesses Digitally
According to source,
Chinese manufacturing giant Foxconn is
considering investing $7 billion to build a new
factory in the US assembling flat panel
screens. Reports from The Wall Street Journal
and the Nikkei Asian Review say Foxconn
chairman Terry Gou discussed the plans at a
company event this weekend, speculating that
the factory could create 30,000 to 50,000 new
jobs. Foxconn has been considering building
such a facility in the US since 2014 , and Gou
said if the company were to make the move
now, it would need substantial incentives from
the government in the form of access to
cheap land and power.
The new factory might be a joint investment
with Apple. "Apple is willing to invest in the
facility together because they need the
[panels] as well," said Gou according to the
Nikkei Asian Review . Foxconn is Apple's
biggest manufacturing partner and runs the
largest iPhone factory in the world with
substantial tax breaks from the Chinese
government. Any investment by Apple in the
project would be a political victory for
President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly
railed against the iPhone-maker for
outsourcing jobs to China. We've reached out
to Apple to confirm Gou's comments and will
update this story if and when we hear back.
Gou said that the rise of this sort of
protectionism is "inevitable," but questioned
whether US consumers would be happy to
absorb the cost of moving jobs back home.
"In the future they may be paying some $500
more for [U.S.] products, but those do not
necessarily work better than a $300 phone,"
said Gou.
Bloomberg reports that the new facility would
also involve Japanese display manufacturer
Sharp, which Foxconn bought last year for
$3.5 billion . This isn't the first we've heard of
these plans, as Foxconn's logo (as well as
the $7 billion figure) both appeared in a
presentation to journalists by SoftBank CEO
Masayoshi Son last December . In the same
presentation it was announced that SoftBank
would invest $50 billion in the US over the
next four years.
Gou said that a US factory making displays
would be beneficial to Foxconn by cutting
down on shipping costs, but stressed the
company would need financial incentives for
the deal to make economic sense. He added
that the state of Pennsylvania — which Trump
became the first Republican candidate to win
since 1988, in part due to his pledge to bring
jobs back to the area — was currently ahead
in the bid to win Foxconn's investment. "Right
now Pennsylvania is very proactive," said
Gou. "I have to tell other states to hurry up or
we'll go ahead and sign with Pennsylvania."
Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has
reportedly replaced 60,000 factory workers with
robots.
One factory has "reduced employee strength
from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the
introduction of robots", a government official told
the South China Morning Post .
Xu Yulian, head of publicity for the Kunshan
region, added: "More companies are likely to
follow suit."
China is investing heavily in a robot workforce.
In a statement to the BBC, Foxconn Technology
Group confirmed that it was automating "many
of the manufacturing tasks associated with our
operations" but denied that it meant long-term
job losses.
"We are applying robotics engineering and other
innovative manufacturing technologies to replace
repetitive tasks previously done by employees,
and through training, also enable our employees
to focus on higher value-added elements in the
manufacturing process, such as research and
development, process control and quality control.
"We will continue to harness automation and
manpower in our manufacturing operations, and
we expect to maintain our significant workforce
in China."
Since September 2014, 505 factories across
Dongguan, in the Guangdong province, have
invested 4.2bn yuan (£430m) in robots, aiming to
replace thousands of workers.
Kunshan, Jiangsu province, is a manufacturing
hub for the electronics industry.
Economists have issued dire warnings about how
automation will affect the job market, with one
report, from consultants Deloitte in partnership
with Oxford University, suggesting that 35% of
jobs were at risk over the next 20 years.
Former McDonald's chief executive Ed Rensi
recently told the US's Fox Business programme
a minimum-wage increase to $15 an hour would
make companies consider robot workers.
"It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than
it is to hire an employee who is inefficient,
making $15 an hour bagging French fries," he
said.
