Foxconn Technology Group, the major supplier to Apple Inc. andHewlett-Packard Co., seeks to expand its operations in NorthAmerica as customers request more of their products be Made inU.S.A.

“We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because,in general, customers want more to be done there,” Louis Woo, aFoxconn spokesman, said in a phone interview. He declined tocomment on individual clients or specific plans.

Apple, the world's most valuable company and Foxconn's biggestclient, plans to spend more than $100 million next year on buildingMac computers in the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said ina Bloomberg Businessweek interview published yesterday. Foxconn,based in Taipei, has 1.6 million workers globally, includingfactories in California and Texas that make partially-assembledproducts such as servers, Woo said.

“Supply chain is one of the big challenges for U.S. expansion,”Woo said. “In addition, any manufacturing we take back to the U.S.needs to leverage high-value engineering talent there in comparisonto the low-cost labor of China.”

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou, who founded the maker of iPhones,iPads, PlayStations and televisions in Taipei 38 years ago, wantsto bring U.S. engineers to Asia to train them in manufacturingbefore deploying them back home, he said at a forum last month.

With more than 1.5 million workers at factories scattered aroundChina, Foxconn also benefits from having suppliers located nearby,boosting flexibility, cutting delivery times and reducing transportcosts. Some of the parts, such as core processors for its phonesand glass used in displays, are manufactured in the U.S.

Apple's iPhone, which carries the moniker “Designed by Apple inCalifornia. Assembled in China,” gets its screens from Asia whilemany of the chips are designed by U.S. companies and manufacturedby outsource manufacturers such as Taiwan SemiconductorManufacturing Co. Its Macs, iPods and iPads are also assembled inChina.

Apple's Cook didn't outline where the manufacturing would happenor how much would be produced in the U.S. Operations would includemore than just final assembly, he said.

Bloomberg News

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