An employee puts iPhone 13 smartphones into a bag in the Apple store on Regent Street in London on Friday, 24 September 2021. The EU has agreed on a law to require a single charger for all smartphones to combat electronic waste. (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg) 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 Locks Down iPhone, Tech Hub Shenzhen as Covid Cases Jump
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 by three rounds of citywide mass testing, according to a government notice. The move followed earlier restrictions placed on Shenzhen’s central business district.
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.