Foxconn plans to expand manufacturing to U.S.

Americans may see more electronics with the stamp "Made in the U.S.A."

Electronics manufacture Foxconn says that it is planning to expand to the United States because of customer demand for products made in America, Bloomberg reports.

"We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there," Foxconn spokesman Louis Woo told Bloomberg.

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Inside Foxconn, where Apple iPads, iPhones are made

Foxconn manufactures about half of the world's electronics, for clients like Apple, Samsung and Microsoft, and has been at the center of controversy over working conditions and labor violations.

Part of the reason for opening a factory in the U.S is proximity, Bloomberg reports. Foxconn would be able to save on shipping time and costs.

Foxconn did not release any specifics or comment on possible clients. Nor is there a timeline of when the factories might open.

Foxconn's news comes on the heels of Apple CEO Tim Cook saying the company would manufacture a line of Macintosh computers in the U.S. in 2013.

However, critics were quick to point out that Apple's Mac line is the smallest of its core product lines, which include the iPhone, iPad and iPod.

"Apple sold 18 million Macs in the past four quarters, compared to 125 million iPhones," CNN Money's David Goldman reports.

But the return of manufacturing jobs to the U.S. could be a sign of things to come. And if Apple is successful with its Mac line, an argument could be made that the company could inspire the tech industry to follow its lead.

A recent report in the Atlantic suggests that outsourcing may not be as cost-effective as it once was, due to the rising of wages in China and increase in shipping costs.

Foxconn is one of the world's largest employers. According to Businessweek, the company employs 1.6 million people worldwide.

[oldjones]

Foxconn should stay in China. The United States already has plenty of home-grown corporations that exploit, abuse and cheat their workers. We don't need to import them...

[micmac666]

I'd take the jobs...and hope to improve conditions.