On May 9, 2024, in Wisconsin, USA, President Biden held a campaign rally where he not only supported Microsoft’s investment but also criticized his opponent, Donald Trump, for not fulfilling promises regarding Foxconn investments. In response, Foxconn emphasized that their investment in the Wisconsin plant has reached $1 billion, with over a thousand local employees. This plant serves as a crucial hub for server manufacturing and aims to grow alongside the local community.
Microsoft’s CEO, Brad Smith, announced on the same day plans to invest $3.3 billion in constructing an artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Racine County, Wisconsin. This center is expected to create over 2,000 job opportunities. The land on which this facility will be built was originally promised by Foxconn in 2018 for an LCD panel factory, turning Wisconsin’s investments into a focal point of American election strategies.
Foxconn stated that the Wisconsin plant plays a key role in manufacturing data servers, with Foxconn holding approximately 40% of the global server market share. The plant currently employs over 1,000 workers and continues to maintain a leading position in the global server market, emphasizing growth and innovation within the state.
In the past three years since 2020, Foxconn’s employment scale in the Wisconsin plant has grown by at least 42%. It is also the largest taxpayer in Racine County, demonstrating its commitment to supporting technological innovation and expansion in Wisconsin with an investment of $1 billion.
However, industry experts believe that Foxconn’s reduced investment scale in Wisconsin is primarily influenced by changes in industry trends, the US-China tech war, subsidy policies tied to presidential transitions, and changes in Wisconsin’s governorship, making it challenging to recruit specialized employees locally, impacting Foxconn’s investment strategies in the state.
Experts note that in November 2018, Wisconsin elected Democratic Governor Tony Evers, whose views on pollution control and subsidy incentives differed. Rapid changes in the panel industry landscape and considerations regarding local production costs prompted Foxconn to revise their plans for a high-end panel factory in the area. In late April 2021, Evers and Foxconn reached a new agreement, allowing Foxconn and other manufacturers in the region flexibility in production and products in exchange for meeting employment and capital investment goals.
The escalating US-China tech war has also influenced Foxconn’s investment strategies in Wisconsin. Chairman Terry Gou has stated that investments in Wisconsin will be dynamically adjusted based on market conditions, with servers being one of the key production items, seen as essential for the development of the global US-China G2 scenario.
In mid-April 2023, Foxconn transferred a portion of its Wisconsin campus to Microsoft, generating profits from the land sale. Microsoft agreed to invest $50 million at the time, acquiring land to construct a large data center. This move further solidified the tech giants’ presence and investments in Wisconsin, highlighting the continuous evolution of technology and manufacturing in the state.