Fri, 08 Dec 2023

TAIPEI, Taiwan: After thousands of employees quit, Foxconn's flagship Zhengzhou iPhone plant in China anticipates a reduction in November shipments, according to media reports.

Dissatisfied over strict Covid restrictions, workers at the Foxconn plat have quit, disrupting iPhone production before Christmas and January's Lunar New Year holiday, after some workers were either put into isolation or fled the plant.

Additionally, local media reported that Foxconn workers clashed with security personnel.

Factory officials have said that more than 30 percent of the factory's November production could be affected by the unrest.

The factory is currently Apple's only site that makes premium iPhone models, including the iPhone 14 Pro. Further, it is believed that the factory is unlikely to resume full production by the end of November.

"The worker unrest at Foxconn's plant in China could weigh on Apple's November iPhone shipments," Victoria Scholar of Interactive Investor said, as reported by Reuters.

"Apple is still viewed as one of the more resilient stocks in the tech sector... However, Apple continues to hold off from providing official guidance given the macroeconomic uncertainty," Scholar added.

Meanwhile, U.S. retailer Best Buy said last week that it expected high-end iPhones to be in short supply at stores this holiday season.

Media reports detailed how Foxconn's Zhengzhou iPhone factory saw workers smashing surveillance cameras and windows, which was confirmed with footage uploaded on social media.

Meanwhile, KGI Securities analyst Christine Wang said if the protests continued through December, some 10 million iPhones will not ship, which would be 12 percent lower than iPhone shipments in the last quarter of 2022.

The Zhengzhou plant, employs more than 200,000 workers. It has dormitories, restaurants, basketball courts and a football pitch, on an area of 15 million-square-feet.

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