New Delhi: Amidst the new wave of Covid in China, a huge amount of migrant workers moving back to their home countries who were working for the largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou evading the Zero Covid Lockdown. Foxconn, an Apple partner, is experiencing COVID-19 issues at its massive iPhone manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou, China, which might reduce November iPhone shipments by up to 30%.
According to a Chinese media report, The factory in the capital of Henan province employs around 300,00 workers. The development could slow the production of Apple’s flagship devices in the coming months.
Workers have broken out of #Apple’s largest assembly site, escaping the Zero #Covid lockdown at Foxconn in #Zhengzhou. After sneaking out, they’re walking to home towns more than 100 kilometres away to beat the Covid app measures designed to control people and stop this. #China pic.twitter.com/NHjOjclAyU
— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) October 30, 2022
Famed Apple analyst Ming-chi Kuo posted on Twitter that more than 10 per cent of the global iPhone production capacity is currently affected as Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory suddenly entered a closed-loop production without warning. However, said Kuo, this situation has not changed the current iPhone supply chain shipment forecast.
According to analysts, Foxconn’s production capacity will gradually improve within a few weeks and there should be a limited impact on iPhone shipments in the fourth quarter. Zhengzhou city has imposed a semi-lockdown on its 10 million residents.
Apple earlier faced disruptions to its supply chain due to China’s strict “zero-Covid” policy, especially during the two-month lockdown in the key manufacturing centre of Shanghai earlier this year.
(Vinayak)