Foxconn iPhone India output drops 50% as workers contract Covid-19
Production of the Apple iPhone 12 at a Foxconn factory in
India has slumped by more than 50% because workers infected with COVID-19 have
had to leave their posts, two sources told Reuters.
The Foxconn facility
in the southern state of Tamil Nadu produces iPhones specifically for India,
the world's No.2 smartphone market.
Tamil Nadu is one of the worst hit states in the second coronavirus wave
engulfing India. Officials imposed a full lockdown in the state
from Monday, closing public transport and shuttering shops, to try slow surging
infections.
More than 100 Foxconn employees in
the state have tested positive for COVID-19 and the company has enforced a
no-entry ban at its factory in the capital of Chennai until late May, one of
the sources said.
"Employees are only allowed to leave but not to enter the
facility since yesterday," the person said. "Only a small part of
output is being kept."
More than 50% of the plant's capacity had been cut, both sources
said, declining to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
They did not specify the plant's capacity and it was unclear how
many workers were at the facility, which provides dormitory accommodation for
employees.
Taipei-based Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics
maker and a major supplier to Apple, said a small number of employees at one of
its facilities in India tested positive for COVID-19 and the company was
providing them with support, including medical assistance.
"Foxconn places the health and safety of our employees as our
highest priority and that is why we have been working closely with local
government and public health authorities in India to address the challenges
that we and all companies are facing in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis,"
it said in a statement to Reuters.
Foxconn declined to comment on factory output or specific staffing
levels. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
India has benefited from Apple's move to shift some areas of
production from China to other markets as it navigates a trade war between
Washington and Beijing, with Apple announcing in March it had started the
assembly of the iPhone 12
in India.
While Apple's share of the budget phone-dominated India market is
small, CEO Tim Cook said in January that India business doubled in the December
quarter compared to the previous year, helped by an online store launch.
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