Foxconn’s model of business, industry, and logistics just don’t jive with the region, at least not intuitively to me. And of all things Foxconn could conceivably manufacture in the US, LCDs seem like the least economical option for them.
Well, we already manufactured in Wisconsin a lot of the stuff you need for an LCD panel. 3M Menominee makes the light diffuser (Vicuiti) film that a lot of the top end LCD makers used, Wisconsin up until 2008 had one of the top flex circuit facilities in the US ( 3M Eau Claire). TTMI in Chippewa Falls has one of the most advanced printed circuit board making facilities (built by Cray Research/SGI).
I was no fan of the Foxconn plan. Wisconsin has enough smart people and know how to have done it themselves without a Taiwanese assembly shop. Pretty soon, making LCDs will be like making cheese. Just order the cheese making machines and go to work. If we don't have the smart people here (like Seymour Cray, Mark Andraesen etc) we get them from nearby states (Gene Amdahl, PhD UW Madison). Just call up Nikon, order the machines and go to work.
