Foxconn Technology Group, the company responsible for manufacturing the largest share of Apple’s iPhones, on Wednesday confirmed it is considering an investment to expand its operations in the United States.
The Taiwanese company told the Wall Street Journal it is in “preliminary discussions regarding a potential investment” to expand its U.S. operations.
Foxconn’s statements on the matter came just a day after SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son met with President-elect Trump and pledged to invest $50 billion into businesses and the creation of 50,000 new jobs in the United States over the next four years. During Son and Trump’s announcement of that commitment, Son accidentally hinted at Foxconn’s plans by holding up a paper that included both the SoftBank and Foxconn logos.
Though Foxconn indicated to Bloomberg that the “scope of the potential investment has not been determined,” the paper held by Son included mention of a $7 billion, 50,000 new job investment over the same four year period alongside the numbers for SoftBank’s investment.
While the company hasn’t indicated a U.S. expansion would necessarily include manufacturing Apple products, a Foxconn move to the United States could play right into Apple’s hands.
The news of Foxconn’s potential U.S. investment comes a little over two weeks after Apple reportedly asked two of its device manufacturers – Foxconn and Pegatron – to investigate the cost of producing iPhones stateside. Nikkei Asian Review said Foxconn obliged the request.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously indicated the United States lacks the number of skilled manufacturing workers Apple would need to shift production, but such a move could potentially help Apple get on Trump’s good side given the president-elect’s campaign trail promises to “get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of other countries.”