Foxconn’s U.S. Future Means Taking on Musk in Wisconsin
Both the company and the local government need to face reality and accept that the path forward means starting again from scratch.
A parking bay for electric cars at a recharging point in the U.K.
Photographer: Wayne Hutchinson/Farm Images/Universal/Getty
It has been almost four years since Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou met with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to talk up the electronics giant’s U.S. plans. Walker took the bait, offered huge incentives, and extracted a promise to build a TV-panel plant and provide thousands of jobs.
That hasn’t happened. Walker got voted out and Gou has passed his empire on to a new chairman. The promises remain, empty and unfulfilled. But there’s hope yet for both Wisconsin and the reputation of a Taiwanese company best known for making Apple Inc.’s iPhones. To realize the possibilities though, both sides need to bury the past.