Foxconn halts iPhone Shenzhen site due to Covid lockdown
Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn is halting operations at its Shenzhen sites, one of which produces iPhones, in response to a government-imposed lockdown on the tech hub city.
The Taiwanese company, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., has its China headquarters in the area and a key manufacturing site in Guanlan. It is suspending operations at the two campuses and has reallocated production to other sites to reduce impact from the disruption, the company said in a statement. Foxconn didn’t specify the length of the suspension. The measures from the Chinese government call for non-essential businesses in Shenzhen to halt until March 20.
While the shutdown may affect production of many of the devices Foxconn makes for Apple and other brands, demand for electronics typically troughs in the first quarter of every year after the holiday-season peak.
Hon Hai shares were down as much as 1% on Monday morning in Taipei.
Foxconn, Apple’s primary smartphone assembler, does the majority of its production at a plant in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, which has earned it the nickname of iPhone City. Its Guanlan site is smaller in scale. The company was among the first to confront disruptions from the coronavirus outbreak two years ago when it asked staff to keep away from its Shenzhen headquarters as a precautionary measure.
China placed the 17.5 million residents of Shenzhen into lockdown for at least a week on Sunday, seeking to halt a growing Covid-19 outbreak. The lockdown, which came after virus cases doubled nationwide to nearly 3,400, will be accompanied three rounds of citywide mass testing, according to a government notice. The move followed earlier restrictions placed on Shenzhen’s central business drict.
All bus and subway systems have been shut, and businesses, except those providing essential services, have been closed. Shenzhen is home to the headquarters of giants Huawei Technologies Co., SZ DJI Technology Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. as well as one of China’s busiest ports.
