As noted by 9to5mac, a local Brazilian report claims Apple has filed documents at the Jucesp (Junta Comercial do Estado de São Paulo) to begin assembling “products” in Brazil. It is unclear what kind of products Apple is willing to assemble in the country, but the report goes on to specify that a previous rumor suggested governor of São Paulo Geraldo Alckmin would announce Apple’s new factory in Brazil on April 22nd. UOL Technologia also claims other tidbits in the past weeks indicated Apple was shipping containers full of components from Asia to Brazil; furthermore, the city of Jundiaí was rumored to be among the candidates selected by Foxconn to build a new facility in Brazil – although this might not be strictly related with Apple’s plans.
From a rough Google Translation of the original report, it appears there might also be tax exemptions involved in the process:
With the installation of a factory in Brazil, Apple may benefit from tax exemptions offered by the government Rousseff for tablets, which will reach 9.25% for PIS and when the classification of the device to switch to “computer”. The arrival of Apple to Brazil could accelerate the adoption of this exemption - and would benefit from other manufacturers such as Samsung, which already produces in the country Galaxy Tab.
There is still no information whether Apple will use its own plant or at Foxconn, assembly line installed in Jundiaí.
The documents filed at the Jucesp can be viewed here. UOL Technologia says it’s also unclear whether Apple will deploy its own facility or use a Foxconn one built in Brazil, but it seems like the main intention is that of moving some parts of Apple’s production line out of China and all the way down to South America. On a side note, back in November we reported Eike Batista – Brazilian billionaire and the eighth richest person in the world – wanted to invest in a $1.6 billion construction project to bring an Apple facility to Brazil to “create job positions, generate revenue and lower costs of Apple products for Brazilian customers.”
Update: MacMagazine [Google Translation] reports a “contact at Apple Brazil” informed them the updated Jucesp records weren’t created by Apple. Apparently this is the only official Apple Jucesp record in Brazil, and the new one was probably created by “a squatter.” Speculation about the facility still persists, but Apple is denying the rumors.
[Thanks Newton Mota]
