A source from Foxconn, which is Apple‘s most prominent supplier, said today, Monday, that it expects the Zhengzhou factory in China, affected by the Coronavirus, to return to full production in late December or early January after Workers’ unrest disrupted the largest iPhone factory in the world.
The Zhengzhou factory is grappling with the strict restrictions imposed by the Chinese government to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, which has angered workers at the conditions imposed on them at the factory.
The production of the iPhone, which is Apple’s most prominent product, was disrupted before the Christmas holidays in the West and the Lunar New Year holiday celebrated in China during next January, as many workers were forced to either quarantine to combat the spread of the virus or flee the factory.
It quoted a source, who refused to be named for the privacy of information, as saying: “Production capacity is now gradually being restored while continuing to hire other employees.”
“If the hiring process goes smoothly, it may take about three to four weeks to fully restart production,” the source said, referring to the time period from late December to early January.
Also according to the source, Foxconn and the local government in China are working hard on the recruitment campaign, but there are still many doubts, as the source indicated “concerns” that some workers might have about working for the company after the factory was subject to protests last month, which Sometimes it turned violent.
“We are doing our best in the recruitment process,” the source said.
As for Apple, Apple recently began accelerating the process of moving part of its production outside of China and has told supply chain partners that it plans to increase assembly operations in India and Vietnam.
