Foxconn, the company responsible for assembling most of the world’s Apple Inc. IPhones, will aid the fight against the coronavirus pandemic by developing and making ventilators in the U.S.
The Wisconsin plant owned by Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., will be used to manufacture ventilators, Medtronic Plc Chief Executive Officer Omar Ishrak told CNBC.
Foxconn confirmed the partnership in a statement on Wednesday but did not say where and when it will be making the medical equipment.
There has been a critical shortage of supply globally for ventilators needed in the treatment of severe cases of Covid-19. Foxconn’s collaboration with Medtronic covers design and development of the devices. Production will start within the next four to six weeks, Ishrak said, without quantifying a volume.
Foxconn has been making face masks, used to curb the spread of the virus, in China since February and its subsidiary Sharp Corp. Also began churning them out in Japan in late March.
Foxconn’s contract for its Wisconsin plant was signed with great fanfare in late 2017. President Donald Trump, who had helped bring the deal together with the state’s then-governor, Republican Scott Walker, said Foxconn would revitalize U.S. Manufacturing and that its massive factory hub would become “the Eighth Wonder of the World.”
Since then, the plant—which was originally intended for making display panels—has been criticized for delays and changes of direction. The company missed its first-year hiring target by a wide margin, ending 2018 with 178 full-time employees.
More coronavirus coverage from Coins2Day:
—New York City prepares to use parks as temporary burial sites
—Millions won’t be able to pay their bills this month. What financial experts advise
—What small businesses applying to the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program need to know
—What’s going to happen to your frequent-flier status and miles
—The Supreme Court faces pressure to work online as its case backlog grows
—JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon lays out a future worse than 2008 in his annual letter
—Why Allstate and other auto insurers are sending their customers refunds
—PODCAST: COVID-19 might have upended the concept of the best companies of the year
—VIDEO: 401(k) withdrawal penalties waived for anyone hurt by COVID-19
Subscribe to Outbreak, a daily newsletter roundup of stories on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on global business. It’s free to get it in your inbox.
