The company's CEO Terry Gou announced his interest in building the facilities when Arizona Gov. Janice Brewer visited him in Taiwan. Both Foxconn and Arizona officials have been in talks about an investment for about the last two years, the company said.
The Taiwanese manufacturer is best known for building Apple's iPad and iPhone, but it also assembles products for other U.S. leading tech companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Dell. Many of those factories are in China, where Foxconn employs more than 1 million people, paying them wages of about $300 to $500 per month.
Establishing facilities in Arizona, however, could help Foxconn better tap into the demand for U.S.-made electronics. Gou referred to President Obama's push to create more manufacturing jobs in the country as a reason to expand in the U.S.
Arizona is conveniently located on the national border near its existing operations in Mexico. By locating in Arizona, the company also hopes to benefit from state loans and access to other local tech hubs in the state.
