The situation has stabilized, company official says

Dec 5, 2022 17:06 GMT  ·  By

Foxconn is one of the companies that were hit by the protests that took place in China, and mixed with the COVID restrictions, the whole thing led to massive production disruptions.

After several weeks of worker unrest, Foxconn now expects the production lines to be up and running in just a few weeks, possibly before the end of the year. If anything, everything should be back to normal in early January, with Foxconn already hiring new staff, according to a company source speaking with Reuters.

The impact on iPhone production

While it’s not yet clear how hard the iPhone production has been hit, the company’s Zhengzhou plant is currently employing approximately 200,000 workers.

Apple itself warned last month that due to the efforts to deal with the pandemic, the Chinese production power has been slowed down. The company said that iPhone waiting times could increase as a result of the downtime. In the meantime, however, the situation has gotten even worse following the protests that took place in China.

“COVID-19 restrictions have temporarily impacted the primary iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max assembly facility located in Zhengzhou, China. The facility is currently operating at significantly reduced capacity. As we have done throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we are prioritizing the health and safety of the workers in our supply chain,” Apple said at that point.

“We continue to see strong demand for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. However, we now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated and customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products.”

At this point, it’s estimated the iPhone production is approximately a month behind the target, though no further details exist on this front.