"Made in Vietnam" could be the newest thing you'll see printed on the back of your iPhones or Nintendo Wiis in the near future. Taipei-based Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), the world's largest contractor for electronics, announced that they will be expanding their operation to Vietnam.

Responsible for the production of products such as Apple's iPhone and iPod, as well as Nintendo's Wii console, Foxconn decided to continue to diversify their plant operations to Vietnam to maintain their cost-efficient business practices within the most efficient manufacturing area outside of China.

A deal was already signed last August 29 with Foxconn's chief executive Terry Gou and Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment investing a US$ 5 billion contract into various high tech and supporting industries projects. Also, Foxconn has invested US$ 160 million in two plants in the Que Vo Industrial Zone, as well as hiring about 500 local university graduates with plans of hiring up to a maximum of 300,000 employees.

Tung Kim Nguyen, a partner at Indochina Capital, had this to say about Vietnam:

Vietnam is the next outsource manufacturing centre of Asia, this is because of a China-plus-one strategy that manufacturers are adopting and a response to anti-dumping suits that will be hitting the Chinese point of origin manufacturers hard over the next few years

Intel has already had their eye on Vietnam for some time. They announced that they would build a US billion plant near Ho Chi Minh, prompting other manufacturing giants such as Toshiba and Matsushita to pledge future investments.

There have been so many rumors about the release of the next iPod  - none of which has been confirmed, not a single one. Whenever someone from Apple tries to answer those backfence talks, their replies usually result in more speculation - thus it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that they are not speaking up.

Just like this one, we have already featured in our earlier reports about some weird Apple patents that have something to do with the body's motion. Apparently, in a recent statement by CEO Terry Gou of Hon Hai (iPod makers for Apple), it was implied that Apple is about to unveil the next generation of the iPod, the best-selling music player in the U.S., using a "none-touch" concept. The "none-touch" part sent the rumormongers running to their blogs.

Maybe something's just lost in translation. But the only sensible possibility is that the next iPod will feature an internal motion sensor somewhat similar to the one Apple already uses in its laptops and along the lines of the upcoming Nintendo Wii controller. If this one is proven to be true, I'd be one of the many applauding Apple! But since this is just a rumor, we leave the speculation part to you. What do you think about this rumor? Would you like it or is it a bad idea? Let us know through your comments.