Foxconn to Produce iPads, Touchscreens in Brazil Plant
Taiwan’s Foxconn will begin assembling iPads in Brazil in December under a deal under which Brazil will invest $12 billion in a plant and Foxconn with allow unrestricted technology transfer.
Foxconn’s Jundiai plant in the state of Sao Paulo will begin rolling out Apple tablets in December, with iPhones to follow soon after, said Foxconn chairman Terry Gou and Brazil’s science and technology minister Aloizio Mercadante at a ceremony Friday marking the start of production.
iPad production had originally scheduled to start in July had been delayed due to protracted negotiations over tax breaks and other government concessions. The $12 billion that Brazil pledged for facilities for manufacturing iPads and iPhone components is firm but the investments may be drawn out for four to six years, said Gou.
“What is under discussion with Foxconn is a major investment to produce touchscreens, which are so far only made in four countries in the world,” said Mercadante.
Foxconn will participate in building two touchscreen production facilities in Brazil as part of a technology park project announced in April by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff during a state visit to China. The venture will be jointly funded by local investors and the Brazilian Development Bank, said Mercadante. The deal calls for “unrestricted technology transfer” from by Foxconn , the world’s leading electronics contract manufacturer, Mercadante noted.
The investment pact also calls for a other measures, including tax breaks on tablet computers, access to high-speed internet, priority for exports at Brazilian airports, government loans and assistance in scouting local investors, added Gou.
In May Brazil announced incentives for manufacturing tablet computers in Brazil, including lowering tax rates to the same level as notebooks which will help manufacturers cut tablet prices by 30% or more.
Foxconn has been operating in Brazil since 2003, with four plants in that nation and the fifth under construction in Jundiai.