Apple iPhone Production Choked Due To Coronavirus In India

The explosive increase in the number of infections caused by the coronavirus in India is now also having a direct impact on the production of the Apple iPhone there. The contract manufacturers are struggling with infected employees and plant closures.

As reported by Taiwan News, the two large Taiwanese contract manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron are currently struggling to keep production in their Indian iPhone plants running. The background to this is the rapidly increasing spread of the novel coronavirus and its variants, which has recently led to a large number of infections and ultimately also deaths.

Companies Affected

According to the report, contract manufacturer Wistron recently had to close its plant in the southern Indian city of Kolar for five days after three managers from Taiwan were infected with the coronavirus. It is not yet known how many Indian employees of the plant there contracted Covid-19.

At the location of the world’s largest contract manufacturer Foxconn, the production also had to be temporarily suspended because ten Taiwanese employees were infected with the coronavirus. The plant in the city of Chennai was then disinfected while the affected employees are being treated in an Indian hospital.

Foxconn and Wistron produce different versions of the Apple iPhone in Indian plants to serve the regional market. The companies had only set up the sites in the last few years after the Indian government increased pressure to force local production.

The supply chain and manufacturing of Apple and its contract manufacturers in India could come under even more pressure in the coming weeks and months. Foxconn, Wistron & Co are trying to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among their employees with various measures, but the pandemic on the subcontinent currently seems to be raging practically unchecked.