Apple to lose 6 million new Iphones to Chinese factory disruption

Apple’s production factory located in Zhengzhou, China will produce 6 million less iPhones this year, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The facility which is in charge of mass producing the recently released iPhone 14 has been hit by incessant protests and walkouts by employees over issues concerning Covid lockdowns and their pay.

Protests have erupted in China over the county’s strict Covid lockdown policy, and that measure has impacted various companies with Apple being the latest company affected.

The Apple Zhengzhou facility, operated by Taiwanese firm Foxconn, ceased operations after employees protested strict Covid lockdown protocol, joining the thousands that have expressed civil disobedience across the country.

The protests in the plant began back in October, when the facility which accommodates over 200,000 employees was locked down as Covid cases rose in the city, with many of those who were quarantined fearing a spread of the pandemic amongst them.

Thousands of employees would go on to leave the facility, but were promised huge bonuses by Foxconn for those who came back to work. However, the payments were delayed and sparked a fresh round of protest among remaining employees.

To prevent further loss in sales, Foxconn rapidly replaced vacant positions in the company, and tried to get staff back to their jobs.

For Apple, the chaos in the plant only throws greater urgency on the need to diversify the production of its devices. The tech giant had earlier given the green light to produce some of its products in India and Vietnam, in a move to dilute its worrying dependence on China.

Apple is not the only company who have been severely impacted by the lockdowns in China, as earlier this year, Tesla’s $5bn Shenzhen megacar plant was shut down by the government due to rising Covid cases in the city.