Foxconn Sets Aside $10 Billion for Indonesian Facilities

China Economic News Service has reported that Foxconn is setting up a massive chain of operations in Indonesia, one that will take investments of $5 to $10 billion (4.05 to 8.10 billion Euro).

There are two reasons for this move, one of which is speculation and the other is not.

We'll get the facts out of the way first: Foxconn bought a stake in Sharp this year, which means it now has partial control of some LCD manufacturing facilities, plus ownership of new LCD technologies.

Thus, it needs some extra factories to handle production, since it will be getting orders from previous Sharp customers from now on, in addition to Apple and its other existing clients.

The second reason that we think is in play here is the situation in China. Foxconn's facilities were the site of many suicides last year, and even a mass suicide threat in January 2012. Moving some operations to Indonesia would be a way to start fresh, in a sense.