Breakingviews: Foxconn’s $7 billion U.S. bet goes beyond politics

Breakingviews
Robyn Mak
WATCH LIVE
Foxconn employees on the assembly line in Longhua, Shenzhen, China. The company reportedly employed students working overtime at its iPhone factory in Zhengzhou.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Foxconn's $7 billion U.S. bet goes beyond politics. Building a huge TV-screen factory in America would fit neatly with President Donald Trump's push to create domestic jobs. Grabbing a share of the U.S. market could also help the Taiwanese iPhone maker revive recently acquired subsidiary Sharp.

On Sunday, Foxconn founder Terry Gou sketched out a project to make display panels in America, building on details revealed accidentally last month by his friend, SoftBank boss Masayoshi Son.

This may not happen: Gou has a history of talking up big investments that do not materialize. But on paper at least, this looks like a big deal. To compare, heavyweight Samsung Electronics spent just over $9 billion in capital expenditure for its display business last year. And Foxconn's new plant could create up to 50,000 jobs.