Production of Apple Inc’s iPhones could slump by as much as 30 percent at one of the world’s biggest factories next month due to tightening COVID-19 curbs in China, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is working to boost production at another factory in Shenzhen to make up for the shortfall, said the person, declining to be identified as the information was private.
Its main Zhengzhou plant in Henan Province, which employs about 200,000 people, has been rocked by discontent over stringent measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, with several workers fleeing the site over the weekend.
Photo: AP / Hangpai Xingyang
The possible effect on production comes amid a usually busy time for electronics makers ahead of the year-end holiday season, which is also a prime time for vendors such as Apple.
Foxconn on Sunday said it was bringing the situation under control and would coordinate back-up production with other plants to reduce any potential effects. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
A second person familiar with the situation said many workers remained at the Zhengzhou plant and that production was continuing.
Photo: AFP
Under China’s strict COVID-19 policies, localities must act swiftly to quell outbreaks, with measures including full-scale lockdowns.
Factories in affected areas are often allowed to stay open on condition they operate under a “closed loop” system where staff live and work on-site.
Businesses have said such arrangements pose numerous difficulties.
Foxconn on Oct. 19 banned dining at canteens at the Zhengzhou plant and required workers to eat meals in dormitories.
It said production was normal.
The measures led to people who said they worked at the site venting frustration about their treatment and provisions via social media.
Scores fled the site over the weekend, with photographs and videos on social media purporting to show Foxconn staff trekking across fields in daytime and along roads at night.
Foxconn has not disclosed whether any workers at the Zhengzhou site had been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Authorities have since Oct. 19 reported 264 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Zhengzhou.
New cases in China hit 2,898 on Sunday, topping 2,000 for a second straight day, a tiny number by global standards.
Rising case numbers from numerous outbreaks across China have prompted a tightening of local curbs and lockdowns, including in parts of big cities such as the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, where the number of new locally transmitted cases totaled 1,110 from Monday last week to Sunday, up from 402 over the previous seven days.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS