Even with COVID-19 restrictions having been put in place locally, Foxconn’s Shenzhen facilities have resumed operations – to at least some degree – after reports a few days ago that the company’s factory in the area had been forced to temporarily close.
It seems that the Taiwanese multinational has been able to placate local authorities by implementing what Nikkei Asia has called a “closed-loop management process”, whereby Foxconn employees are essentially prevented from going anywhere other than home or work.
Foxconn had responded to the earlier enforced closure by moving some production to other factories, to help minimise the disruption caused by the new partial lockdown conditions put in place by the local government.
Even then, analysts didn’t seem too fazed about the potential impact on iPhone production, particularly given that the Shenzhen region only accounts for less than 20% of Foxconn’s total manufacturing capacity for Apple’s iconic smartphone.
Foxconn is well-known for its assembly of iPhones. However, when news filtered through of the Shenzhen factory’s brief closure, there were also initially concerns about availability of the only recently unveiled iPad Air 5 and Mac Studio products – worries that may now be allayed by the partial restart of operations at the site.
