Foxconn expands into French packaging

Foxconn used Computex and the Choose France summit to show that its European push now extends beyond assembling electronics into packaging chips and building AI systems. Chairman Young Liu met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday local time as the company unveiled two projects in France: Tessalia, a semiconductor packaging venture with Thales and Radiall, and an AI infrastructure partnership with Bull, according to Foxconn and France’s office in Taipei. The French packaging project is the more concrete of the two. Foxconn, Thales and Radiall laid the foundation stone on June 1 for Tessalia Technology SAS in Le Barp, near Bordeaux, during the Choose France 2026 summit. The venture will focus on outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing, or OSAT, and aims to produce more than 50 million system-in-package components a year by 2033. (foxconn.com) ### Why is Foxconn putting a packaging site in southwest France? Le Barp sits in Nouvelle-Aquitaine near Bordeaux, where Thales said the site is close to the “Route des Lasers,” cleanrooms and an existing industrial and academic base. The partners said Tessalia will make advanced packaging for chips used in aerospace, telecom infrastructure, automotive and medical applications. (thalesgroup.com) Thales and Foxconn said the venture will use ultra-high-density encapsulation technology designed to simplify printed circuit boards and shrink component size and weight. The companies described the project as part of Europe’s semiconductor build-out under the EU Chips Act framework. ### What numbers matter most in the Tessalia plan? (thalesgroup.com) Foxconn said production at Tessalia is expected to begin at the end of 2029. Focus Taiwan, citing Foxconn’s release, reported the site is expected to employ 800 people at full production and that the broader investment could exceed 250 million euros by 2033 as additional industrial partners are brought in. The project has evolved since earlier reporting in 2025. (thalesgroup.com) Current company statements from June 1 set the target at more than 50 million SiP components annually by 2033, which is the latest figure attached to the venture by the companies themselves. ### How does this fit with Foxconn’s Computex message? Foxconn said at Computex 2026 that it is expanding from an AI server supplier into what it called a “Token Factory” provider, while also showing robotics, healthcare, space and data-center systems. (focustaiwan.tw) The company said it is supporting Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platforms and modular AI data-center deployment, and separately announced a partnership with Bull for AI and cloud infrastructure in Europe. (thalesgroup.com) France’s envoy in Taipei, Franck Paris, said Young Liu was expected to brief Macron on those two developments — Tessalia and the Bull partnership — and said the meeting would allow Macron to assure Liu the investments would be monitored “at the highest political level in France.” ### Who are the French partners, and what comes next? Thales, Radiall and Foxconn are the named industrial partners in Tessalia, while Bull is Foxconn’s separate partner for AI and cloud infrastructure manufacturing in Europe. (foxconn.com) The Tessalia groundbreaking took place with French Industry Minister Sébastien Martin, Thales Chairman and CEO Patrice Caine, Radiall Chairman and CEO Pierre Gattaz, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional president Alain Rousset in attendance. (focustaiwan.tw) The next dated milestone is the end of 2029, when Foxconn said Tessalia is expected to begin production in Le Barp. By 2033, the partners are targeting annual output above 50 million SiP components, with investment that Foxconn said could exceed 250 million euros. (focustaiwan.tw) (thalesgroup.com)