At an event commemorating its 40th anniversary this weekend, Foxconn boss Terry Gou mentioned that the company is exploring the possibility of opening a display manufacturing plant in the US that could produce screens larger than 60 inches, The Wall Street Journal reports. Spurring the exploration, apparently, is the difficulty of shipping panels that large to the US from Asia, where most are currently produced.

Not Foxconn's first investment in the US

The days of an Asian stronghold on high-tech manufacturing appear numbered as industry giant Foxconn — and major brands including Apple and Google — make a push to move hardware lines to North America and elsewhere. And this isn't Foxconn's first venture in the US: Gou's company has been making moves in the US for years, most recently announcing a $40 million investment in Pennsylvania in November.

Foxconn's interest in the large display business has grown since taking a sizable investment in Sharp in 2012. While it's possible to speculate that Apple — which has made a big deal of moving some production to the US — is working with Foxconn to manufacture displays here for the perpetually rumored Apple television set, simply selling Sharp sets to American consumers with a "Made in America" logo on the box could end up being a marketing win.