As Apple prepares to start building one full line of Macs in the U.S. in 2013, the company’s primary assembly partner, Foxconn, is working to expand its operations to America. According to a Foxconn spokesperson who talked with Bloomberg, the manufacturer’s partners have apparently requested that more products be built stateside. Luis Woo of Foxconn said challenges for such a move include a need for skilled engineers in America.
According to Woo, Foxconn is “looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there.” The comments come shortly after Apple CEO, Tim Cook, revealed that his company will be spending $100 million to produce one entire line of Macs in the U.S. next year. Cook declined to say exactly which Mac product will be built domestically though. What he did mention is that such a move was being worked on “for a long time, and we’re getting closer to it. It will happen in 2013. We’re really proud of it. We could have quickly maybe done just assembly, but it’s broader because we wanted to do something more substantial.”
Cook’s comments point toward assembly, which is handled by Foxconn, being only part of Apple’s solution, suggesting that Apple’s investment could also be related to individual components. The comments from Foxconn also lend support to a previous rumor that claimed the Taiwan-based manufacturing company was looking to establish new plants in America. Furthermore, chairman of Foxconn, Terry Gou, also revealed that his company is planning a training program for U.S. based engineers at a public event. Through a planned partnership with the Massachusetts of Institute of Technology, Foxconn hopes to bring American engineers to China or Taiwan to be involved in product design or manufacturing.
The move will bring a sigh of relief to some Americans who have been complaining about jobs being outsourced and should hopefully help the U.S. economy, at least to some extent.
Source: Bloomberg
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