By Nathanael Arnold | The Wall Street Journal
Is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) manufacturing returning to the U.S.? Major Apple supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry recently announced that it was considering opening a plant in Arizona, where it would manufacture panels for large-screen TVs, reports Reuters. Hon Hai Precision Industry, also called Foxconn, is perhaps best known as the maker of Apple’s iPad and iPhone products.
“Arizona has offered us very good commercial conditions,” said Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou via Reuters. “The U.S. market is huge.” The Taiwanese manufacturer’s announcement led some commentators to speculate that Hon Hai’s potential Arizona factory might be related to Apple’s recent partnership with GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT).
As reported by Bloomberg, Apple is opening a plant in Mesa, Arizona, that will produce sapphire, an extremely hard and scratch-resistant material used as a protective cover for the iPhone’s camera lens and Touch ID fingerprint scanner. Seeking Alpha noted that the sapphire facility will be owned by Apple while GT Advanced Technologies will own and operate the furnaces.
