Foxconn is reportedly planning to assemble Google server components at its beleaguered Wisconsin factory. According to Bloomberg, Foxconn landed a deal with Google and is establishing assembly lines for making circuit boards, aiming to start mass production in the first quarter of next year. Foxconn confirmed to Bloomberg that it was developing computing and infrastructure “capabilities” but did not name customers.
Bloomberg suggests that Google is expanding American manufacturing to win more government contracts, and one source said Foxconn was the only manufacturer that could assemble the necessary components inside the US.
Meanwhile, a Google deal would throw Foxconn a lifeline. Foxconn won billions of dollars in subsidies for its Wisconsin facility, aided by support from Wisconsin Republicans and President Donald Trump. But a promised LCD manufacturing powerhouse never materialized, nor did a variety of other proposed businesses, including fish farming and dairy exporting. The facility has remained largely empty for years, delivering a fraction of the 13,000 jobs it promised local residents. The scale of its reported Google contract remains unclear.
