Chinese employees who were making iPhones crossed the factory wall…
Workers who protested the control of “Zero Corona” at the Foxconn plant in China, the largest production base for Apple’s iPhone, are leaving on a large scale. As a result, it is predicted that iPhones shipments will decrease by up to 30% in November. The economic outlook for Chinese companies is on the decline again.
Citing sources, Reuters reported on the 30th (local time) that production is disrupted as a large number of production workers have left Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant in Henan Province. For this reason, Foxconn is pushing to increase production at its Shenzhen plant. Foxconn is Apple’s largest subcontractor, and the Zhengzhou plant is iPhone’s main production base.
Concerns are rising that Apple’s stock price could fall due to a drop in shipments of its flagship models such as the iPhones 14. Recently, the U.S. stock market is led by Apple, which outperformed expectations amid worsening performance of big tech companies.
The Zhengzhou plant is a large production facility with up to 300,000 workers. In preparation for the frequent blockade in China, it has been operated in a “closed loop” manner that allows workers to stay and stay at the factory site. However, the recent surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in factories has strengthened access control and disrupted the supply of food, leading to a surge in workers’ escape. On Chinese social media, scenes of crossing the factory wall or walking back home for 10 hours continue to be posted. Local governments near Zhengzhou are controlling the return of Foxconn workers. The number of people infected with COVID-19 in China is increasing again recently.
China’s official Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 49.2 in October, down from 50.1 in September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The non-manufacturing PMI, which measures corporate sentiment in the service and construction industries, fell sharply from 50.6 in September to 48.7 in October. Both indicators fell below 50, indicating that the economy was in a contraction.