Apple supplier Foxconn resumes some production at its main China iPhone site
- It is unclear how many workers have returned to work at Foxconn’s plant in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan province
Foxconn Technology Group resumed some production on Monday at its main iPhone-assembly site in Zhengzhou, according to local officials, though it was unclear how many workers returned, highlighting the ongoing uncertainties the global technology supply chain faces amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Henan Governor Yin Hong inspected the site on Monday to assess the company’s virus-prevention measures, as workers went back to work after the extended Lunar New Year holiday, according to the Chinese Communist Party city committee in Zhengzhou, capital of the central Chinese province.
Yet just the day before, Foxconn told some workers that it was postponing the resumption of production and would not be able to decide on a back-to-work date for the site “until further notice”, according to a version of an internal message reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The site in Zhengzhou is one of many run by Foxconn’s iDPBG business unit, which also makes gadgets for Apple at two other plants in Shenzhen. It is not clear how many employees received the message and whether other workers were summoned back.
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Taiwan-based Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, declined to comment on the message. The company said on Monday that its factories will comply with government requirements and resume output in an “orderly manner” by staggering the return of workers.
The rapid change in developments highlights the fluidity in responses by local governments and companies, as they seek to contain the coronavirus while minimising its economic impact.
Foxconn has told employees at its southern Shenzhen headquarters not to return to work after the extended Lunar New Year break ended on February 10, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg.
Not all of its employees returned to their hometowns for the holiday break so there are still some available workers on production sites, according to people familiar with the plant operations, though it is unclear how many.
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Foxconn’s iDPBG business unit could also struggle to hire back workers after the holiday period. A recruitment app for iDPBG shows that two of its plants in Shenzhen had received only 800 applications from former workers as of Monday morning. The facilities are seeking as many as 3,000 ex-workers.
Apple and Foxconn were among the first corporations to try and quantify the coronavirus epidemic’s impact. Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, slashed its 2020 outlook last week, anticipating disruptions to Apple’s carefully calibrated production chain as well as weaker consumer demand and overall economic growth.
As China’s largest private employer and a key partner to many of the world’s most recognisable consumer brands, Foxconn has become a high-profile symbol of how the outbreak is disrupting Chinese manufacturing and the world’s supply of electronics.
