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The 8th Wonder of the World: Inside Foxconn's empty buildings, empty factories, and empty promises in Wisconsin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Josh Dzieza ,
Jenny Chan  and
Mark Selden
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In the context of transnational production, China remains the heart of Foxconn's global electronics empire and its profitability. For seventeen consecutive years between 2002 and 2018, Taiwanese-owned Foxconn ranked number one as China's largest exporter. Today it operates more than thirty industrial parks across coastal and interior China, creating a 24-hour, high-speed production network predicated on vertical integration and flexible coordination. Most of the world's TVs, desktop monitors and laptops are assembled in China. The United States remains by far its largest export market, as well as a major source of the US trade imbalance with China.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 18 , Issue 21 , November 2020 , e4
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2020

References

Notes

1 In 2018, Foxconn's exports reached unprecedented heights at US$166.2 billion. See Foxconn, 2020, “Foxconn Technology Group Annual Exports, 1996-2019” (in Chinese). Also, Foxconn, 2020, “Key Milestones”.

2 Foxconn, 2020, “2019 Corporate Social Responsibility Report,” p. 14.

3 Guangzhou International (The People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality), 2017, “Foxconn's Project with Investment of RMB50 Billion Registered and Launched in Guangzhou,” 24 February.

4 He Huifeng, 2017, “Why America May Prove a Cheaper Option than China for Foxconn,” South China Morning Post, 28 July.

5 DSCC (Display Supply Chain Consultants), 2020, “Responses to Questions Posed about the Foxconn Project in Wisconsin,” submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Administration, 19 February, p. 5.

6 DSCC, p. 2.

7 Foxconn's European headquarters, since 2002, have been based at the Czech Republic. In 2018, Foxconn Czech Republic ranked 2nd in the top 100 companies in the country. See Foxconn's “Key Milestones;” and, Archyde, 2020, “Ranking of the Largest Companies in the Czech Republic,” 15 August.

8 A 2012-2013 study found that Foxconn's workforce was far smaller in Europe than its counterparts in China. The two factories in the Czech Republic employed 5,000–6,000 workers in Pardubice and 2,000–3,000 people in Kutna Hora, while the Corlu factory in Turkey had only 300–400 workers. See Devi Sacchetto and Rutvica Andrijasevic, 2015, “Beyond China: Foxconn's Assembly Plants in Europe,” translated by Gill Parrott, South Atlantic Quarterly 114(1), p. 216.

9 DSCC, p. 3.

10 Division of Executive Budget and Finance, 2020, “Correspondence/Memorandum—Joel Brennan, Secretary, Department of Administration, State of Wisconsin,” 7 October, p. 2.