bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Masha Borak

This is the first in a series of stories about the impact of India’s Covid-19 crisis on the Indian and Chinese economies and the global initiative to restructure supply chains.
Apple’s efforts to diversify its production from China to India are being hit by the Covid-19 crisis there, with infections and factory shutdowns prompting analysts to question whether the country can become a smartphone manufacturing and export superpower.
According to a report by Taiwanese news agency CNA on Saturday, Foxconn confirmed that 10 Chinese engineers at its plant in the Indian city of Chennai had been infected with Covid-19. Meanwhile Wistron Corporation, another key player in Apple’s manufacturing chain, closed its plant in south India for five days after a spate of Covid-19 cases, according to the CNA report.
“We can confirm that a small number of employees who worked at one of our facilities in India have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus,” said Foxconn in a statement on Monday.
Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme face Indian dilemma
“We are working to provide the employees and their families with the support they need … we have been working closely with local government and public health authorities in India to address the challenges that we and all companies are facing in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.”
Despite wider government efforts to halt the spread of Covid-19, it has not yet imposed any manufacturing lockdowns.
“Many Covid restrictions are being initiated [on a] daily basis and many things are being severely impacted, including demand and supply”, said Bakshi Hardeep Vaid, a professor at the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology.
India has become the second-largest market for smartphones since 2019, amid a raging tech war between the US and China, with companies including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi setting up manufacturing operations in the country.
In a bid to turn the country into an export and manufacturing hub, India’s government last year increased import taxes on smartphones and launched the US$6.65 billion Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for hardware makers.

Three of Apple‘s top contract manufacturers, Foxconn, Wistronn and Pegatron, have announced plans to invest a total of almost US$900 million in India in the next five years to tap into the PLI, according to sources quoted by Reuters in September last year.
“For Apple the objective [of local manufacturing] was twofold: one is to lower the cost difference due to import duties and secondly, it is also a hedge for Apple,” said Kiranjeet Kaur, senior research manager at IDC. Amid the ongoing US-China trade war, focusing production solely on China would increase risks for the iPhone maker, she added.


However, India’s ambitions to become the “new China” in phone manufacturing are now being blunted by one of the world’s worst outbreaks of Covid-19, with daily deaths from the virus surging past 4,000 for the first time on Saturday, according to government data.
IDC’s Kaur expects smartphone makers to be hit by the Covid-19 surge during the second quarter and possibly longer if there are more waves of infections.
Market research firm TrendForce forecast on Monday that Covid-19 would reduce India’s smartphone production by a total of 12 million units in the second and third quarter. This could result in a 7.5 per cent year on year decrease in smartphone production in India for the whole year.
India holds up wireless approvals for China-made devices
The short-term impact of community lockdowns has also weakened consumer demand, with Bloomberg Intelligence last week reporting that smartphone shipments could fall 25 per cent in the second quarter. Aside from the impact on Apple and Samsung’s supply chains, Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo and Vivo – all of which have been expanding in the country in recent years – have also been hit by India’s Covid-19 wave of destruction.
As such, Kaur says China will remain an important manufacturing hub for Apple, at least in the short term, given the possibility of lower production in India and strong demand for iPhones.
In the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, the world’s largest manufacturing complex for iPhones, Foxconn recently raised bonus pay for new recruits, signalling strong production activity. Foxconn has four plants in China while in India the company makes iPhones in two plants.


China contributed 68 per cent of global handset production in 2020, with India at around 15 per cent, according to research firm Counterpoint, which estimates a figure of 19 per cent for India in 2021.
Apple has been shifting production out of China, its second biggest market, slowly but steadily, but Covid-19 has stopped this and Apple’s production in China in 2020 returned to 2017 levels, according to a May report by Counterpoint.
Thanks to a developed production infrastructure, a deep labour pool and supportive local government policies, China remains critically important to the global electronics supply chain.
iPhone 12 launches in China to strong demand
But IDC’s Kaur says that the costs of Chinese production may increase and in the future, Apple may continue to look to other markets to increase production, whether it’s Vietnam for iPads or India for iPhones.
In November last year, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Foxconn would be moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple in a bid to diversify production and minimise the impact of the US-China trade war.
Additional reporting by Che Pan
 


Apple’s attempt to diversify manufacturing to India is being stymied by New Delhi’s coronavirus crisis

India’s ambitions to become the “new China” in phone manufacturing are now being blunted by one of the world’s worst outbreaks of Covid-19. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: The lobby of Foxconn's office in Taipei, Taiwan, June 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

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Apple has been hit by Covid-19 infections at two of its India plants, according to Taiwan media report
The coronavirus wave is likely to slow handset manufacturing production in India and weaken consumer demand, analysts say



India’s plan to become a smartphone manufacturing superpower is being thwarted by its Covid-19 crisis and problems could linger, putting China back in the frame, analysts say.


Apple’s attempt to diversify manufacturing to India is being stymied by New Delhi’s coronavirus crisis

Apple has been hit by Covid-19 infections at two of its India plants, according to Taiwan media report The coronavirus wave is likely to slow handset manufacturing production in India and weaken consumer demand, analysts say

Apple has been hit by Covid-19 infections at two of its India plants, according to Taiwan media report

The coronavirus wave is likely to slow handset manufacturing production in India and weaken consumer demand, analysts say