A riot on Saturday at a Wistron Corp (緯創) plant in India resulted in estimated losses of 4.37 billion rupees or almost NT$1.7 billion (US$59.75 million), Indian media reported.
The Times of India yesterday reported that the preliminary estimate of losses included thousands of iPhones stolen during the riot.
Wistron would suspend operations at the iPhone factory in Karnataka state for two weeks, a source familiar with the incident said.
Photo: AFP
Because the incident occurred before the peak Christmas season, Wistron’s losses could exceed the preliminary estimate, the source added.
About 2,000 workers at Wistron’s Narasapura factory, became enraged after the night shift, apparently over pay cuts, destroying furniture and factory assembly units, according to Indian media, which said there were even attempts to set fire to vehicles on site.
The Times of India on Sunday reported that the employees were angry because they were not being paid the wages they agreed upon when they were recruited.
A Wistron representative later confirmed that some office furniture at the factory was damaged, but equipment on the main assembly lines and in the warehouses remains intact.
Indian police have arrested about 130 people in relation to the incident, sources said.
Wistron on Sunday said the riot at the plant in Narasapura was caused by unidentified outside instigators who broke into the factory and sabotaged the facility, adding that the company would work with authorities and police to investigate the incident.
Karnataka Minister of Labor Shivaram Hebbar told Indian news media on Sunday that the disputes about labor contracts between Wistron and its workers has dragged on for more than three months.
Wistron’s production lines in India have long been dedicated to assembling more affordable iPhones, with the iPhone SE accounting for the majority of production, and starting in the second half of this year they have rolled out smaller iPhone 12 models, local media has reported.
Wistron is able to move production capacity to other factories in India and Kunshan, China, to make up the shortfall caused by the violence at the Narasapura plant, so the effect on the company should be limited, analysts said.
However, Apple could decide to investigate Wistron for possible breach of its supplier code of conduct, an analyst said.
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