Apple had announced this year that it would shift some of its production from China and begin the assembly of the iPhone 12 in India
Amid a horrifying second COVID-19 wave and the ongoing chip shortage, Foxconn’s production of Apple’s iPhone 12 in India has been hit hard. With many of its factory workers infected with the virus, production at Foxconn’s factory in Tamil Nadu has fallen by more than half, a report by Reuters stated.
A source aware of the matter, told Reuters, “Employees are only allowed to leave but not to enter the facility since yesterday…Only a small part of the output is being kept.”
Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer for electronics, had earlier told the publication, “Foxconn places the health and safety of our employees as our highest priority and that is why we have been working closely with local government and public health authorities in India to address the challenges that we and all companies are facing in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis.”
With a trade war raging between the US and China, the two biggest manufacturers of electronic products, Apple had announced this year that it would shift some of its production from China and begin the assembly of the iPhone 12 in India, which has been ramping up efforts to attract manufacturers to produce goods in the country.
While Apple’s share of the budget phone-dominated India market is small, CEO Tim Cook said in January that Indian business doubled in the December quarter compared to the previous year, helped by an online store launch.
The report also added that market research firm Canalys said that growth in India extended through the first quarter, with Apple shipping more than a million iPhones. Demand for the iPhone 12 was supported by local assembly and attractive finance offers, Canalys said.
With cases rising by leaps and bounds each day, many manufacturers like Nokia and OPPO were forced to suspend production in India after several workers tested positive last year.
