14 DAY TRIAL // Foxconn has recently suspended the manufacturing operations at its facilities in Shenzhen, China following a new set of restrictions announced by the local government.
The lockdown comes due to a new COVID-19 outbreak, with the Chinese authorities trying to limit the spread with severe restrictions.
Bloomberg reports that Foxconn has already moved its production to other plants that are still running at full speed, but on the other hand, it’s not yet clear just how much the manufacturing of certain products would be impacted.
The new government lockdown will last until March 20, so Foxconn’s operations wouldn’t resume to the normal pace until next week.
Foxconn is one of the biggest manufacturers of Apple’s iPhone, and there’s concern the new restrictions could lead to constrained iPhone supply across the world or, at least, in specific markets such as the United States.
Could the iPhone inventory be impacted?
While it’s not yet clear if Foxconn’s production relocation could help prevent inventory problems, there’s a chance the iPhone supply wouldn’t be impacted substantially, pretty much because the lockdown comes after the holiday season when sales are at higher levels.
Smartphone sales typically slow down in the first quarter of the year, but on the other hand, the restrictions impacting Foxconn could be bad news for the new products announced by Apple.
The Cupertino-based tech giant has recently announced the new iPhone SE, with the shipping projected to start as soon as the next Friday. However, it all depends on the demand this new model records, as Apple should already have the necessary inventory to deal with the first orders received as part of its pre-order program.
Needless to say, Apple has so far remained tight-lipped on everything, and don’t expect any potential inventory problems to be confirmed anytime soon.