Foxconn ponders sale of US$8.8 billion LCD plant in China amid market woes, trade tensions: sources
- The Guangzhou factory, which Foxconn announced in 2016, had been primed to start operations later this year
- The US-China trade war has disrupted technology global supply chains, forcing Foxconn to review its own
Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group is exploring the sale of its new US$8.8 billion display panel factory in China, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as demand for the product wanes amid an intensifying US-China trade war.
Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is in talks to appoint banks to find a buyer for its liquid crystal display (LCD) factory that is being built in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
A sale would come at a delicate time for Foxconn, which has extensive investments in China and a large roster of US clients that includes Apple, as it navigates a tricky path amid the protracted trade dispute between Washington and Beijing. It would mark one of its largest divestments from China.
Foxconn’s discussions are at an initial stage and it has not yet come up with a price tag for the so-called Gen-10.5 facility specialising in large-screen LCDs, the sources said, adding a sale was not assured.
“It’s not an easy sale and it could take a while,” said one of the sources, citing tepid global demand for large-screen LCDs.