What you need to know
- Foxconn has closed its Shenzhen operations following a local COVID-19 outbreak.
- Chinese officials have ordered non-essential businesses to close until March 20.
- Some manufacturing has been moved to other Foxconn factories.
Apple supplier Foxconn has stopped building iPhones and other products in Shenzhen, China after local authorities put the city into lockdown over a fresh COVID-19 outbreak.
The COVID-19 lockdown has caused Foxconn to halt production with the company's headquarters also impacted. A Bloomberg report notes that the company has moved some production elsewhere in an attempt to lessen the impact of the lockdown closures.
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.
While Foxconn has yet to confirm how long its campuses will be closed, the Chinese government ahs told non-essential businesses in the city to shut down until March 20 — although it's possible that will be extended should the COVID-19 situation not be brought under control.
It isn't clear whether the closing of Foxconn's Shenzhen operations will impact the recently announced iPhone SE, iPad Air, and Mac Studio products, however. All of those products are due to go on sale officially this Friday, March 18 with pre-orders already open.
The issue of being too reliant on manufacturing and assembly out of China is one reason that Foxconn and other Apple suppliers have been seeking to diversify their position by opening factories elsewhere. That hasn't always gone according to plan, however, with Foxconn's Indian plant having problems of its own.
