On Tuesday, President Donald Trump made a big revelation regarding plans for three Apple factories in the U.S. but it may not build them all by itself. Rather, the iPhone maker will build them in partnership with another company, likely Foxconn.
Is Trump right about the Apple factories?
Trump told The Wall Street Journal that Tim Cook promised to set up three big Apple factories.
“I spoke to [Mr. Cook], he’s promised me three big plants — big, big, big,” Trump said. “I said you know, Tim, unless you start building your plants in this country, I won’t consider my administration an economic success. He called me, and he said they are going forward.”
Since Apple believes working in silence and letting its success make the noise, little is known about its upcoming plans, and there have been no comments from Apple either. Thus, the locations of the plants and their core business are still unknown. Whether Apple will set up a manufacturing unit by itself or with its partners is also still not clear. It is also not known if Trump was talking about Apple-owned plants, or plants with investment help from Apple.
However, an educated guess would be that the plants may be for assembling activities, notes AppleInsider.
It must be noted that an announcement from Foxconn regarding Apple factories in the U.S. is expected as early as this week. Recently, Apple invested in Kentucky-based Corning to support the company’s ongoing manufacturing efforts in the region. Corning is a supplier of cover glass for the iPhone.
Foxconn, the Taiwan-based electronics giant that oversees most of Apple’s massive factory network in China, is considering opening a plant in Wisconsin. The plant will reportedly have the capacity to accommodate 10,000 workers. Apple products might be produced in this factory despite the fact that Apple won’t own it.
Apple’s commitment to the U.S.
Apple has a wide network of developers through which it led the creation of more than 2 million jobs in the United States, Cook said earlier. The company had also committed to promoting advanced manufacturing jobs in the U.S. and has created a huge fund of $1 billion for this purpose. In the U.S., the iPhone maker directly employs 80,000 workers and indirectly employs 450,000 workers through suppliers.
But when it comes to manufacturing, Apple manufactures only Mac Pros in the U.S., while for all other products, it prefers to work with outside suppliers. This allows the company to procure parts from various companies, and thus mitigate risks in case its manufacturing plans do not go as intended.
Trump and CEO Tim Cook often clash over ideas. It was Trump who called for a boycott of Apple products unless it assisted investigators in unlocking the device belonging to one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack last year. Trump has also been pressuring Apple to manufacture more of its product in the U.S. Meanwhile, Cook has a few times expressed displeasure with Trump’s policies.
On Monday, Apple shares closed up 0.43% at $152.74. Year to date, the stock is up almost 32%, while in the last year, it is up almost 55%.
