Apple begins building $1billion campus in Texas

Apple Inc said on Wednesday it had started building a new campus in Austin, Texas, beside its existing facility where it makes the new MacBook Pro laptops.


Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is set to give a tour of the Texas factory to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The company has come under fire from Trump because it makes most of its products in China. But Cook and Trump have developed a good relationship. In 2017, Trump said Cook had “promised me three big plants — big, big, big.”

The new $1 billion, 3-million-square-foot campus will initially house 5,000 employees, with the capacity to grow to 15,000, and is expected to open in 2022, Apple said.

Austin is one of the fastest-growing U.S. cities, with a population of about 1 million, and is home to the University of Texas and other tech companies, including Dell Technologies Inc in nearby Round Rock, Texas.

Apple currently employs about 7,000 employees in Austin.