Foxconn Announcement Lacks Details, Says IHS' Gagnon
Foxconn’s memorandum of understanding to build an LCD display fab on a 20-million-square-foot “campus” in Kenosha, Wisconsin, (see 1707270018) was “just an announcement of an intent to build something,” rather than a statement of “concrete plans,” Paul Gagnon, IHS Markit…
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director-TV sets research, told us. Gagnon called last week's announcement surprisingly “pretty vague to pin anything on.” Foxconn CEO Terry Gou's mentions at a White House event of plans to produce 8K product in Kenosha ties in with "something that the panel industry itself has been really pushing,” said Gagnon, "4K is largely commoditized already, so if you’re just going to pump out 4K panels, well, there’s a lot of oversupply.” For Gou to talk so prominently about 8K was also surprising because “there’s no ecosystem” to deliver it and likely won’t be until “way beyond” 2020, he said. “Certainly, 8K has a lot of applications in medical or specialty display-type applications, but not in the consumer entertainment space.” Foxconn representatives didn’t comment.