ime Highlights
- Foxconn is expanding its U.S. footprint with a new manufacturing project in Louisville, Kentucky, focused on specialized and high-value production.
- The investment reflects a practical and measured approach, aimed at strengthening local manufacturing rather than large-scale consumer electronics production.
Key Facts
- The project is expected to create around 180 local jobsand will receive approximately $400 million in state tax incentives.
- The facility will be developed in two phasesat an existing site near major logistics infrastructure, including UPS Worldport.
Background:
Foxconn has announced a new manufacturing investment in the United States, committing approximately $1.74 million to establish a highly automated production facility in Louisville, Kentucky, according to state and local officials. The factory is expected to begin operations in the third quarter of 2026.
While Foxconn is best known globally as Apple’s largest manufacturing partner, officials and industry analysts say the Kentucky project is unlikely to be linked to Apple product manufacturing, given its limited scale and focus.
The facility will be developed through the renovation of an existing 23-acre warehouse on Randy Coe Lane, rather than greenfield construction. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear confirmed that Foxconn, through its subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., has secured the rights to use the property.
Once operational, the facility is expected to create around 180 local jobs. The project will also receive approximately $400 million in state tax incentives and economic development support, officials said.
Foxconn stated that the Kentucky factory will deploy artificial intelligence and robotics across all stages of production, including elements of product design. The plant is expected to operate with a high level of automation, reflecting Foxconn’s broader push toward smart manufacturing.
Apple’s manufacturing model depends heavily on tightly clustered suppliers for components such as displays, semiconductors, and batteries, an infrastructure that does not currently exist in Kentucky.
Foxconn Chairman Liu Yangwei recently indicated at the company’s HHTD25 Technology Day that Foxconn is expanding its U.S. footprint to support AI computing, servers, and advanced electronics, rather than consumer smartphones.
Foxconn is also working with SoftBank to develop a supercomputing center in Ohio, while continuing to invest in Wisconsin, Texas, and other U.S. states. These moves are aimed at reducing risks linked to trade tensions and changing tariff policies.
Industry observers say the Kentucky project is very different from Foxconn’s widely publicized $100 billion Wisconsin plan announced in 2018, which was later scaled back after failing to meet expectations.
While the Kentucky factory is unlikely to bring iPhone production back to the U.S., it represents a practical step as Foxconn expands its American manufacturing operations.
