Authorities Finally Approve Foxconn Workers' Return Amid Virus Breeding Factory Concerns
iPhone 14 Production Disruption Inevitable... Fear of Spread to Nearby Areas Also Grows
[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Cho Young-shin] Authorities in Henan Province are dispatching an investigation team to Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) Zhengzhou Apple iPhone production plant, as Foxconn's COVID-19 prevention policies are causing widespread repercussions.
As the situation worsened, Foxconn decided to provide transportation conveniences such as buses to workers wishing to return home. Workers have been producing iPhones while quarantined in dormitories within the factory. Due to worker departures, disruptions to Apple's new iPhone 14 production seem inevitable. The Zhengzhou Foxconn plant is the world's largest iPhone production facility, employing as many as 300,000 workers.
According to Chinese media including Pengpai on the 31st, Foxconn announced the previous afternoon that it would provide transportation conveniences such as buses to workers wishing to return home.
Foxconn stated that it fully understands the desire of workers wanting to leave the factory and will arrange vehicles and support personnel to help workers return home safely. They added that seven bus stops have been set up inside the factory and that transportation such as buses will be provided sequentially. Foxconn also said it will continue to implement local government quarantine measures and conduct daily nucleic acid tests for workers remaining in the factory.
Foxconn advised workers to stay in dormitories and prevented them from leaving the factory after COVID-19 cases were detected in Zhengzhou City.
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 28th that Zhengzhou plant workers have been posting videos, photos, and messages on Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo (China's version of Twitter) and TikTok, revealing internal factory conditions, and that workers are experiencing anxiety and confusion. Henan Province and Zhengzhou City health authorities sent a quarantine team on the 29th to inspect the situation inside the Foxconn Zhengzhou plant.
The problem is that it is unknown how many workers will leave the factory. Currently, about 200,000 workers are reportedly effectively quarantined inside the factory. The consensus is that a significant number of workers are likely to leave Foxconn, making disruptions to Apple’s new iPhone 14 production unavoidable. This is expected to negatively impact Apple’s financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 (October to December 2022).
The economic media outlet Jeil Jaegyeong reported that 27% of Apple smartphone sales (based on 2019 data) occur in China, and 25% of those are generated at the Zhengzhou plant in Henan Province. It also explained that the Zhengzhou plant accounts for more than 60% of Henan Province’s total trade. There are concerns that worker departures from Foxconn Zhengzhou could adversely affect not only Apple’s sales but also Henan Province’s economic growth in the fourth quarter (October to December 2022).
Pengpai cited Foxconn’s announcement that the company will transfer iPhone 14 production volumes to other factories in China and that there will be no problems with iPhone 14 production.
There is growing anxiety that the return of Zhengzhou plant workers to their hometowns could cause a resurgence of COVID-19 in neighboring cities. Henan Province, where the Foxconn Zhengzhou plant is located, borders Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, and Shanxi provinces. Foxconn Zhengzhou workers mainly live in cities (regions) near Zhengzhou City.
Huanqiu Shibao reported that health authorities in nearby areas such as Weizhou, Changge, Xinyang, and Xuchang sent official letters to Foxconn requesting prior reporting of personal information of workers returning home. It also reported that Foxconn Zhengzhou workers will undergo centralized quarantine for seven days at designated locations after returning home, followed by an additional three days of separate management, according to detailed quarantine guidelines communicated.
Huanqiu Shibao also reported that a worker named Jian recently left the factory and walked 11 hours from Zhengzhou City to Kaifeng City, and that three other workers walked 24 hours to Dengping City.
Meanwhile, Henan Province health authorities announced that as of the 30th, seven infections were confirmed in Henan Province, including six in Zhengzhou City. They reported a total of 509 confirmed cases in Henan Province so far (including 389 asymptomatic cases).
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