Foxconn Technology Group (www.foxconn.com) says that it is looking to build a $7 billion facility in the USA to make ‘PC displays’, but the plans are still at a “preliminary stage”.

This investment by Apple Inc’s main sub-contract manufacturer is likely to create 30,000-50,000 US jobs, according to a spokesman.

The company is considering a joint investment with Sharp Corp — the Japanese display supplier it bought last year — but the details have yet to be finalised, chairman Terry Gou told reporters at a company event in Taipei.

Industry analysts say that this potential strategic shift by Foxconn will unnerve the Chinese authorities, because the company employs around a million people in China making iPhones and iPads.

Mr Gou said that the idea took shape after he spoke with Masayoshi Son, the chairman of SoftBank Group Corp and a close business partner. “I thought it was a private conversation, but then the next morning it was exposed. There is a plan, but it is not a promise, it is a wish.”