Apple Suppliers in China Aim to Resume Full Production by February 10 Despite Coronavirus Outbreak

Apple suppliers in China including Foxconn plan to resume full-scale production by February 10, despite the coronavirus outbreak in the country, reports Bloomberg.

iphonelineupguide b

Foxconn's Hon Hai, the most important manufacturer for the U.S. company, said Tuesday it still expects to be able to restart facilities throughout China on schedule, according to a text message sent to Bloomberg News. Suppliers such as Quanta Computer Inc., Inventec Corp. and LG Display Co. also said they would go back to work next week in China.

The vast majority of Apple's iPhones are made in China, at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant and at Pegatron's assembly site near Shanghai. Both locations are more than 500 kilometers away from Wuhan in central China, the epicenter of the viral outbreak.

Despite being ordered to halt "almost all" of its production in China through February 9, Foxconn recently claimed the viral outbreak has had a "fairly small impact" on iPhone production. Foxconn has factories in other countries such as Vietnam, India, and Mexico that have apparently been able to fill the gap.

Apple last week announced that it has closed all of its corporate offices, stores, and contact centers in mainland China through February 9 due to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, out of an abundance of caution. Apple has around 10,000 direct employees in China, across its retail and corporate divisions.

The timing of the coronavirus outbreak could impact supply of the new lower-cost iPhone that Apple is expected to announce in March. Bloomberg recently reported that production of the device was slated to begin in February, but the coronavirus outbreak could delay that timeframe.

More than 20,000 people have been infected with the virus and more than 400 have died. Last week, the World Health Organization declared the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a global public health emergency. More information about the virus and how to protect yourself is available on the agency's website.

Top Rated Comments

newyorksole Avatar
48 months ago
Nothing can stop a company from making money Lolol.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
48 months ago
Don’t underestimate Apple’s supply chain.

I am willing to bet that Apple has contingency plans in place to minimise disruptions to its supply chain, such as reducing their dependency on any one supplier.

Not saying there won’t be any impact, but the idea that Apple’s supply chain is going to come to a grinding halt just because is laughable.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dumastudetto Avatar
48 months ago
People forget iPhones literally are life-saving devices every hour of eery day of the week, all over the world. It is legit vital for humanity that the show goes on in terms of iPhone production.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
betterbegood Avatar
48 months ago
Peak capitalism never fails to care more about financial growth than the livelihood of the people producing said growth. Apple should halt until they felt safe having people working there and Foxconn should not allow workers either.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
travis64 Avatar
48 months ago
Yea no thanks i will be keeping this iphone 11 forever

not worth dying over
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rocko99991 Avatar
48 months ago
Will they come with a bleach wipe in each box?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 With Bug Fixes, Plus iOS 17.0.2 for iPhone 15 Models

Thursday September 21, 2023 10:28 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates for the iPhone and the iPad, adding bug fixes to the new software. The iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates come just a few days after Apple launched iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The software, which is build 21A340, can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There is a...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
emojipedia 15 1 emoji

Emoji Coming to Future iOS 17 Update Include Shaking Head, Brown Mushroom, Lime, Phoenix and More

Tuesday September 19, 2023 12:43 pm PDT by
As Apple was announcing new iPhone models last week, the Unicode Consortium was officially approving new emoji characters that are set to be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Mockup of new emoji from Emojipedia Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, an edible mushroom, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake), and broken...
iPhone 15 Pro Max 5x Optical Zoom Limit Feature 1

Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom

Wednesday September 20, 2023 9:52 am PDT by
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated. Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the...