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Foxconn’s COVID-hit iPhone plant in China’s Zhengzhou city is nearly back to full production, with December shipments reaching about 90% of initial plans, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
Foxconn, formerly Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, did not respond to requests for comment.
Production at the world’s largest iPhone manufacturing facility was severely hampered late last year after a COVID-19 outbreak and virus-control measures forced thousands of workers to leave. It was also afflicted by a period of employee unrest over payment issues.
Foxconn has been offering bonuses to attract new employees and keep those who are already there. Last month, a company source told Reuters that the plant would resume full production in late December to early January.
“Production has nearly fully resumed,” one of the people said on Tuesday, declining to be identified because the information was classified.
The second source stated that production was nearly back to normal, but that company officials remained cautious about the outlook due to an increase in COVID-19 cases across China.
“We anticipate an increase in cases before or after the Lunar New Year holiday,” the person said, referring to the week-long celebration that begins on January 21. “We’re not sure if that will cause any issues.”
On Saturday, the government-owned broadcaster of Henan province, where the plant is located, quoted a factory executive as saying that the plant’s workforce was now stable at 200,000 people and that the supply chain had been stabilised, allowing production capacity to recover.
The plant can employ up to 300,000 people.
The problems at the Zhengzhou plant highlighted the difficulties that businesses and workers faced in adhering to China’s zero-COVID-19 policy.
After Foxconn’s problems and a string of protests over the policy, the central government abruptly dropped the policy in early December, opting for a strategy of living with the virus. The decision was met with widespread relief, but it has also resulted in an outbreak of infections across the country.
