What you need to know
- Foxconn has already been able to partially restart production at its Shenzhen faciltiies.
- Shenzhen was placed in lockdown on Monday following a COVID-19 outbreak.
- Foxconn has put a "closed-loop management process" in place to reduce the risk of infection among its staff members.
Foxconn's Shenzhen, China facilities are already back up and running, at least partially, despite local COVID-19 restrictions. Foxconn closed its two campuses yesterday as the local authorities put the area into lockdown amid a spike in COVID-19 positive results.
While Foxconn only closed its buildings yesterday, a new Nikkei Asia report says that the outfit has been able to put a "closed-loop management process" in place in order to placate authorities. That essentially means that Foxconn employees can't go anywhere other than their homes or work.
In order to restart production, the company has introduced what it called a "closed-loop management process" at campuses that include both employee housing and production facilities. Employees can only commute between dormitories and the factories.
Foxconn had taken steps to move some manufacturing capacity to other factories amid yesterday's closure and analysts weren't concerned about the impact the latest COVID-19 outbreak could have on Apple. Today's news will no doubt further allay any fears that iPhone 13 production could be impacted.
Foxconn is Apple's biggest manufacturing partner and is responsible for assembling iPhones and other products and there were initial concerns about the recently announced Mac Studio, iPad Air, and Mac Studio products. Stock levels of all three devices are already beginning to look slim depending on the configurations customers required, however.
If there's one thing the last couple of years of stock shortages have taught us, it's that the best iPhone is the one that you can actually buy. Hopes are already high that we won't see too many shortages for the new iPhone SE and beyond.
