Corona: Foxconn must close two factories in China

Due to the worsening of the corona situation in China, it is becoming increasingly likely that bottlenecks for various products will soon be expected in this country again. Foxconn is now temporarily closing two factories. For days, lockdowns have left numerous merchant ships on hold off the coast of Shanghai and unable to be cleared.

World trade is of course affected by this – after all, this is one of the main transfer points between the major production sites in China and the rest of the world. But not only logistics but also production itself is increasingly affected. That shows up for example, with the closure of two large factories of contract manufacturer Foxconn. For example, the Foxconn Interconnect Technology factory in Kunshan, which makes various components for the integrated electronics of different products, will be closed.

Apple untouched

The municipality has ordered the closure after the workforce became infected with the coronavirus. It is not yet clear how long the works will be halted. This could also depend on the general development of the region, which has been largely shut down since late March to contain the spread of the corona outbreaks. Foxconn is currently trying to downplay the situation. The companies’ production would have mainly been relocated to other factories in the group.

In addition, stocks are still available, so the availability of components should not become a problem during the final assembly of important products. It remains to be seen how long Foxconn can go without the works despite this. However, it is clear that the production of iPhones, in particular, is not affected, as no components from the closed production facilities are installed in the Apple devices.