Rick Romell and Molly Beck report Foxconn now declines to say it plans to build type of factory named in state, local contracts:
But in a shift from its stance of two months ago, the company on Wednesday did not offer assurances that it still plans to build the type of liquid crystal display panel plant the contracts cite.
Known as “Generation 10.5” fabrication facilities, or fabs, such plants are the largest and most expensive in the display industry. They produce very large panels, such as 65-inch or 75-inch television screens, that are cut from ultra-thin pieces of “mother glass” measuring about 9.5 feet by 11 feet.
Foxconn’s original plans last year called for building a Generation 10.5 plant, and both the state and local agreements reached with the company define the project that way.
….
Asked subsequently whether Foxconn still plans to build a Gen 10.5 plant, the company said it “is still planning for an advanced fab facility in the near future after the completion of the first phase. Whether it is Gen 10.5 or something else depends on the market and economic situations at the time.”
Foxconn promised, Walker insisted, Trump exulted, and the Greater Whitewater Committee touted – yet the deal is melting away. Defenders are sure to start contending that this is all bad luck, but if so it could only be bad luck in the way that it’s bad luck to pet a porcupine, stick one’s finger in an electric socket, or trade one’s life savings for a magic wand.
Sad episodes like those are something different from bad luck, and something much more like bad ideas.
Previously: 10 Key Articles About Foxconn, Foxconn as Alchemy: Magic Multipliers, Foxconn Destroys Single-Family Homes, Foxconn Devours Tens of Millions from State’s Road Repair Budget, The Man Behind the Foxconn Project, A Sham News Story on Foxconn, Another Pig at the Trough, Even Foxconn’s Projections Show a Vulnerable (Replaceable) Workforce, Foxconn in Wisconsin: Not So High Tech After All, Foxconn’s Ambition is Automation, While Appeasing the Politically Ambitious, Foxconn’s Shabby Workplace Conditions, Foxconn’s Bait & Switch, Foxconn’s (Overwhelmingly) Low-Paying Jobs, The Next Guest Speaker, and Trump, Ryan, and Walker Want to Seize Wisconsin Homes to Build Foxconn Plant.