According to a new report from Bloomberg, Foxconn is set to spend $2.6 billion building a new factory in Taiwan exclusively to create displays for Apple. Equipment installation for the factory is likely to begin next month, with the aim of starting mass production of panels by the end of 2015. The factory will require hiring an addition workforce of 2,300 people, and is going to be built at Innolux’s Kaohsiung Science Park campus in Southern Taiwan.
Foxconn Technology Group will spend NT$80 billion ($2.6 billion) over the next two years on a new factory in Taiwan to supply displays exclusively for a client. Equipment installation will commence next month with mass production of panels to start by the end of 2015 after an urgent request for exclusive capacity, Sophia Cheng, a public relations representative for Foxconn’s display unit Innolux Corp. (3481), said by phone, citing comments made by President Wang Jyh-chau at a press conference today. Apple Inc., a Foxconn customer, has previously tapped suppliers for dedicated access to factories in a bid to avoid shortages that can crimp sales of its iPhones and iPads. Previous attempts to pay cash to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330) for exclusive capacity in its factories were rebuffed, while Apple has had success gaining priority in the supply of memory chips from Samsung Electronics Co. and sapphire glass from GT Advanced Technologies Inc.
