And remember, there was coronavirus? It turns out that he not only did not go anywhere, but only hid. But now he has returned to where he came from – China – causing a stop Foxconn factories in Shenzhen. Accordingly, the production of the iPhone and other electronics, which are produced at the facilities of Foxconn, was called into question. The closure of factories was a necessary measure, because only a hard lockdown, the Chinese authorities decided, would reduce the rate of spread of the disease. Moreover, this technique has already proven its effectiveness in the past. But what about Apple?
More cases were detected in Shenzhen over the weekend, according to Bloomberg. COVID-19 infections (omicron strain) than for the whole of 2021 – 3300 cases. It seems that these are mere trifles, especially for China, where more than a billion people live. But do not forget that it was this country that was the first to defeat the coronavirus, eradicating it almost completely. Therefore, no one expected a new wave. But there seems to be no point in worrying.
iPhone production in China
Although Shenzhen is one of the key regions, where iPhones are made, no catastrophe seems to have happened yet, although many are sure of the opposite. Maybe, of course, they are not sure, but they emphasize that Foxconn’s Shenzhen factories did not close even in 2020, when the covid rampage was especially strong. Which means it’s really bad right now.
However, do not forget that in 2020 the virus distribution center was Wuhan city, from which to Shenzhen more than a thousand kilometers. Accordingly, the assemblers of the Shenzhen factories, pardon the pun, actually worked remotely. Now the situation has changed, and Shenzhen itself has become a hotbed of the spread of coronavirus infection. Therefore, the authorities could not leave everything as it was, and were forced to temporarily close the factories. Fortunately, there is no such panic as in 2020 today.
Here are some facts that support this point of view:
- Foxconn factory in Shenzhen closed for just one week, until March 20th. It is planned that during this time all potential carriers of the virus will already become ill and simply will not go to work in the workshops, while healthy ones will simply continue to work.
- Foxconn main assembly lines, where are iphones made, are located in another region – in Zhengzhou. And from Zhengzhou to Shenzhen – 1500 kilometers. So if the focus of the virus is blocked in a timely manner, this will not allow it to spread further.
- Even during the Shenzhen lockdown, Foxconn redistributed iPhone production between other factories. So, as the management of the corporation assures, the forced one will simply have almost no effect on the availability of Apple products on sale.
But China is not the only country where Foxconn has manufacturing facilities. Its plants are present in many countries of the world. Truth, iPhone produce mainly in the Asian part, but if necessary, the company has the opportunity to refocus on release of Apple smartphones several enterprises in Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries. So there won’t be a shortage. Of course, provided that the whole world is not again covered by a new wave of the pandemic.
iPhone production stop
Obviously, there is no cause for concern now. The version that China is simply trying to resist the US, playing Foxconn and Apple like checkers, also does not stand up to scrutiny.
- First, Foxconn is an international corporation focused on making money, and Apple is one of the largest (if not the largest) taxpayers in China. So even during the presidency of Donald Trump China continued to release the iPhone and other techniques of the apple brand, because it is catastrophically unprofitable to abandon this business.
- Secondly, even if China decided to scare the United States in this way (frankly, the method is very strange and even childish), then why did they stop only production in Shenzhen, and not throughout the country? In the end, cutting off supplies from factories in Zhengzhou would be much more effective from the point of view of political technologies, because then Apple would certainly “run in”. But the problem is that such a goal is clearly not worth it.
- Thirdly, Apple is already focused on China slightly less than completely. The company does whatever the local government requires of it, censoring the production of movies and TV shows on Apple TV+, removing all objectionable apps and games, and even agreeing to trust local ISPs to handle iCloud user data. Greater loyalty cannot be imagined.
As you probably already understood, the risk is full iPhone production shutdown or other Apple equipment is not available at Foxconn factories. First of all, because Foxconn is not interested in this. We saw this in the example of 2020, when production volumes were redistributed between the capacities most distant from the source of the spread of the virus, and we see this today in the example of the transfer of assembly from Shenzhen to Zhengzhou. So don’t worry shortage of iPhones in the world will not. But for Russia, nothing can be said yet.
