World’s largest iPhone factory maintains production schedule amid latest Covid-19 outbreak in central China

The world’s largest iPhone factory, operated by Foxconn Technology Group in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, has kept up with its production schedule, despite a jump in new Covid-19 cases across the landlocked province of Henan where the plant is located.

Operations of the various assembly lines run by Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, have been unaffected by the recent outbreak, according to two company employees who spoke on condition of anonymity. They confirmed a report on Tuesday by Chinese media Yicai, citing a Foxconn representative, that the pandemic “hasn’t affected production capacity so far”.

The Taiwanese firm’s workers in the city, along with local residents, have all been subjected to coronavirus nucleic acid tests, as Henan became the first mainland Chinese province to combat both the Omicron and Delta coronavirus variants at the same time.

Foxconn, the world’s biggest electronics contract manufacturer and Apple’s prime iPhone supplier, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Wednesday.

The latest outbreak marks another local crisis in which Foxconn’s Zhengzhou operations emerged largely unscathed. While workers were initially sent on leave in July last year because of massive flooding in Henan, it was business as usual for Foxconn by August.