This episode dissects the spectacular failure of Foxconn's Wisconsin factory project with former executive Alan Yeung. It offers crucial insights into the complexities of large-scale manufacturing investments, the perils of political promises, and the disconnect between corporate announcements and on-the-ground execution. Ecommerce operators can learn valuable lessons about due diligence, managing public perception, and the strategic risks inherent in ambitious expansion or supply chain initiatives.
Alan Yeung is a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the former head of the Foxconn project in Wisconsin. If you don’t quite remember, the Foxconn project in Wisconsin was announced in 2017 as a massive deal to build the first “Generation 10.5” LCD factory in North America. It was also one of the first big moments in the Trump presidency, complete with President Trump holding a golden shovel at a lavish groundbreaking ceremony where he said the factory would be “the eighth wonder of the world.” But it turned out that while Foxconn was putting on a great show, no LCD factory was actually getting built, even though Foxconn kept saying it was happening. Links We're nominated for a Webby! Vote for Decoder! The award winning story from Josh Dzieza - The 8th wonder of the world Wisconsin's $4.1 billion Foxconn factory boondoggle Foxconn’s $100M deal with the University of Wisconsin has students worried What a new governor means for Wisconsin’s controversial Foxconn factory Foxconn and the village: the $10B factory deal that turned one small Wisconsin town upside down No one seems to know what Foxconn is doing in Wisconsin After a ‘personal conversation’ with Trump, Foxconn says it will build a factory in Wisconsin after all Foxconn is confusing the hell out of Wisconsin Foxconn promised a ‘correction’ about empty buildings in Wisconsin two weeks ago, and it hasn’t said a word since With Foxconn chief’s Trump meeting, the Wisconsin project gets even more political One month ago, Foxconn said its innovation centers weren’t empty — they still are Foxconn’s delays might finally give Wisconsin the upper hand One year after Trump’s Foxconn groundbreaking, there is almost nothing to show for it Even fixing Wisconsin’s Foxconn deal won’t fix it, says state-requested report Foxconn’s first announced product for its Wisconsin factory is an airport coffee robot Foxconn releases and immediately cancels plans for a giant dome in Wisconsin Foxconn'