Foxconn has been denied approval to reopen its largest iPhone manufacturing plant in Shenzhen, China today following a two-week closure of the facility which had been slated to reopen today following the global coronavirus outbreak.
A report from Reuters claims Chinese officials have demanded the factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen to remain closed until at least the end of the week, with a separate report noting that one of Foxconn’s other plants in the eastern central Chinese city of Zhengzhou has been able to reopen today, however only 10% of the factory’s workforce has managed to return so far.
Travel restrictions in the country are preventing workers from getting too factories to resume work and stock of components needed by Foxconn to resume iPhone production are in limited supply due to China’s widespread industrial shutdown.
Apple had intended to reopen its retail stores in China today after it was announced the company would temporarily close its stores, corporate offices and contacts centers in mainland China, however over the weekend an internal memo to staff leaked showing that a reopening date for stores in the country is still to be determined.
As well as Foxconn, other key suppliers Quanta Computer Inc., Inventec Corp. and LG Display Co are also running behind on their production schedules, with reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicting the uncertainty may cause iPhone shipments to drop 10% in Q1 2020.