Apple supplier Foxconn says working to resume China production as soon as possible

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A woman carrying an umbrella walks past the logo of Foxconn outside a company’s building in Taipei, Taiwan October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s Foxconn, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:)’s biggest iPhone maker, said on Monday it was working to resume full production at a major plant in China’s Zhengzhou as soon as possible that has been hit by COVID-19 curbs, and revised down its fourth quarter outlook.

China ordered an industrial park that houses an iPhone factory belonging to Foxconn to enter a seven-day lockdown on Wednesday, in a move set to intensify pressure on the Apple supplier as it scrambles to quell worker discontent at the base.

The Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone in central China said it would impose “silent management” measures with immediate effect, including barring all residents from going out and only allowing approved vehicles on roads within that area.

Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, said in a statement that the provincial government in Henan, where Zhengzhou is located, “has made it clear that it will, as always, fully support Foxconn in Henan”.

“Foxconn is now working with the government in concerted effort to stamp out the pandemic and resume production to its full capacity as quickly as possible.”

Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, is Apple’s biggest iPhone maker, accounting for 70% of iPhone shipments globally. It makes most of the phones at the Zhengzhou plant where it employs about 200,000 people, though it has other smaller production sites in India and southern China.

Having previously guided for “cautious optimism” in the fourth quarter, Foxconn said it will “revise down” its outlook given events in Zhengzhou.

However, the firm reported October sales had soared 40.97% year-on-year, a record high for the same period.