The Political Environment: Microsoft: Foxconn parent firm hasn't made licensing payments

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Microsoft: Foxconn parent firm hasn't made licensing payments

What? Foxconn not abiding by an agreement?

In a Friday court filing, Microsoft accused Foxconn of failing to provide twice-yearly royalty reports concerning certain unspecified products and has not made royalty payments on time.... Microsoft is suing for royalty repayment with interest, a review of Hon Hai’s books and attorney fees.

Hmmm. Where have I just seen this sort of thing? Oh, here:

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Here's the counter-argument today, first in a long, must-read piece carried by the Madison Capital Times which, among other things, looks at the risks facing Racine County and the Village of Mount Pleasant where Foxconn bulldozing and local borrowing are well underway:

Based on an examination of Foxconn's corporate history, Asian business practices and the stark realities of the LCD panel production industry, the likelihood of a flat panel factory in Mount Pleasant seems unlikely any time soon — if ever. Neither does the prospect of anything close to 13,000 “family supporting” jobs...

For Racine County, the situation is more pressing... The total county cost was recently projected at $911 million, a liability of more than $10,000 per county household...

So a village of 26,000 has a TIF with a total cost of about 90 times the village's recent annual budget. The result is massive bond issuance — a level of debt for Mount Pleasant and Racine County that far exceeds Wisconsin’s so-called “statutory prudence” level.

The Journal Sentinel weighs in with its own stunner:

Wisconsin might not get a Foxconn plant of any size, analysts say

Foxconn and the state's economic development agency still pledge that the Gen-6 facility will create "up to 13,000 new full-time jobs," as enshrined in the contract. But a blur of mixed signals and shifting pronouncements over the past year has turned Wisconsin’s signature job-creation project into a nonstop guessing game — one that involves the most expensive package of corporate subsidies from a U.S. state and the largest-ever in Wisconsin by a factor of 50.