COVID-19 Lockdown in China: Apple Supply Chain Disrupted After Panicked Workers Flee Foxconn Factory in Zhengzhou (Watch Video)
Hong Kong, October 31: Apple supply chain is facing its next set of problems in China as panicked workers at the Foxconn factory, which produce the new iPhone 14 series, in Zhengzhou city are leaving amid fresh Covid scare, the media reported on Monday.
Fearing Covid lockdowns, workers were seen fleeing the factory on foot and walking in fields and on highways as public transport was suspended as part of Covid-19 controls, reports The South China Morning Post.┬аLockdown in China: Droves of Migrant Workers Flee From iPhone Factory in Coronavirus-Hit Zhengzhou, Videos Go Viral.
The factory in the capital of Henan province employs around 300,000 workers. “Neither Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Technology Group, nor the Zhengzhou government has disclosed how many workers are leaving or are in quarantine,” the report mentioned.
The development could slow the production of Apple’s flagship devices in the coming months. According to Foxconn, it has set up seven pickup points for workers leaving the campus. “Local authorities in other cities in Henan, where many Foxconn workers come from, have also rushed to arrange coaches to take people home,” according to the report.
Watch Video Here:
Workers have broken out of #AppleтАЩs largest assembly site, escaping the Zero #Covid lockdown at Foxconn in #Zhengzhou. After sneaking out, theyтАЩre 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
тАФ 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.┬аCOVID-19 in China: Shanghai District Orders Mass Coronavirus Testing, Lockdown.
However, said Kuo, this situation has not changed the current iPhone supply chain shipment forecast. “Foxconn’s production capacity will gradually improve within a few weeks and there should be a limited impact Aon iPhone shipments in the fourth quarter,” the analysts mentioned. Foxconn, however, denied rumours that several workers had contracted Covid-19. Zhengzhou city has imposed a semi-lockdown on its 10 million residents.
Apple earlier faced disruptions to its supply chain as a result of China’s strict “zero-Covid” policy, especially during two-month lockdown in the key manufacturing centre of Shanghai earlier this year.
(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Oct 31, 2022 04:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
