Wall Street Journal China bureau chief Jonathan Cheng responds to escalating protests in China over COVID lockdowns at ‘Varney & Co.’
Foxconn, the supplier of Apple’s smartphone devices, says it plans to restore production at the world’s largest iPhone factory after interruptions due to worker protests over COVID-19 restrictions in China.
In October, the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou came to a standstill after thousands of workers halted production due to the government’s strict zero-COVID policy. The protests have disrupted supply chains and cost Apple billions in recent months.
Foxconn announced on Monday that the “epidemic situation” is under control, noting that the company is “doing everything it can to protect the rights and interests of employees”.
“In addition to redistributing the production capacity of various factories, we have also started recruiting new employees and are gradually moving towards restoring production capacity to normal,” the company said in a statement.
FACTORY ACTIVITIES IN CHINA DECREASE AS RENEWED COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS
In October, production at the world’s largest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou ground to a halt as workers clashed with safety officials over COVID-19 restrictions. (AP Photo/AP Newsroom)
“The outlook for the fourth quarter is expected to be roughly in line with market consensus,” the statement continued. Foxconn has not specified an exact date when the plant will return to full production.
According to Reuters, those with direct knowledge of the situation within the company expect full production to resume between late December and early January.
APPLE CEO TIM COOK IGNORES QUESTION WHETHER HE SUPPORTS PROTESTS IN CHINA
The fallout from the protests has affected the rollout of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro max models, with Apple announcing that customers will have to wait longer for those models.
In addition, Apple has also started rolling out plans to move production from China to other countries in Asia, such as Vietnam and India.
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