For many, hearing the name Foxconn immediately brings to mind iPhone production. It’s true, that the Taiwanese company is a major producer of Apple’s smartphones and other products. But it also makes something companies like Nvidia, Amazon, and more are in high demand of AI-related hardware. Big Tech companies in the U.S. would like that hardware to come from Mexico and not China, thank you very much.
Foxconn has listened to those demands and has made major AI investments in Mexico. The world’s largest contract electronics maker has funneled $690 million into the country in the past four years, according to the Wall Street Journal. Just this February, Foxconn picked up a slice of land in the western state of Jalisco for $27 million to facilitate a major expansion of its AI server production, people familiar with the plan told the Journal.
Why Mexico?
According to the report, the biggest tech companies in the race to build the latest and greatest AI technology in the U.S. — Nvidia, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft — are using Foxconn’s facilities in Mexico to help meet their AI server needs. It’s part of a larger trend called “friend-shoring” or “nearshoring.” That’s a geopolitical buzzword that describes the practice of running supply chains only through countries that are close political partners.
Source: Quartz
