CHINA: Due to considerable production reductions at a big plant in China affected by COVID-19 restrictions, Apple Inc. anticipated on Sunday smaller shipments of the high-end iPhone 14 models than initially planned.
Without specifying how much manufacturing has been affected, Apple stated in a statement that “the facility is now working at severely reduced capacity.”
Discontent over strict measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 has shaken the company’s main Zhengzhou facility in central China, which employs approximately 200,000 people, and many employees have left the location.
Separately, Taiwan-owned Foxconn, the company that produces the majority of Apple’s iPhones, announced on Monday that it was striving to restore full production at a sizable plant in Zhengzhou, China, that had been impacted by COVID-19 limitations. It revised down its fourth quarter outlook.
The manufacturing impact comes at a time when electronics manufacturers are often busy, just before the year-end holiday shopping season, which is also a busy period for retailers of consumer products like Apple.
Most of Apple’s latest phones, including the iPhone 14, are made at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility, which has roughly 200,000 workers.
The 415 sq km industrial park that houses the facility is now under the lowest “static management” grade of lockdown in China, according to the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone in central China, which announced the move at noon on Wednesday. The lockdown will last until noon on November 9.
Residents in the region, which is 16 miles southeast of Zhengzhou, were reportedly prohibited from leaving their homes and were subject to daily PCR tests, according to an official statement.
Only authorized vehicles are permitted on the highways, and public transportation services have been suspended.
The shutdown of offices, non-essential businesses, and services are among the further measures.
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