Apple's Chinese suppliers want to resume production on time on February 10th despite the coronavirus - Bloomberg reports.
The news platform Bloomberg reports that Apple suppliers such as Foxconn, Quanta Computer Inc., Inventec Corp. and LG Display Co. plan to restart the plants from February 10. The report states:
Foxconn's Hon Hai, the main manufacturer for the U.S. company, said Tuesday it still expects to be able to restart plants across China on schedule, according to a text message sent to Bloomberg News. Suppliers including Quanta Computer Inc., Inventec Corp. and LG Display Co. also said they will resume work in China next week.
The Chinese government currently has a production stoppage until February 9th inclusive. Analysts believe that this could be extended. If this is actually the case, there could be supply bottlenecks in the iPhone sector. Foxconn is currently trying to make up the gap with plants in other countries. But if the production stoppage is actually extended, the plan will no longer work - observers agree on that. Apple itself announced last week that all branches, stores and contact centers on the Chinese mainland will remain temporarily closed.
Over 20,000 infected
The Cupertino-based company currently employs around 10,000 people in its retail and corporate divisions in the Middle Kingdom. Observers therefore continue to agree that the coronavirus will have a negative impact on deliveries of the upcoming entry-level iPhone "iPhone 9“. The device will probably be announced in March – according to suppliers, mass production should start this month. According to current figures, over 20,000 people are said to have been infected with the coronavirus, while the number of deaths has now reached 400. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak an international public health emergency last week. You can find more information on the topic on the official WHO website. (Photo by Yastremska / Bigstockphoto)