China has locked down key cities as it deals with the biggest COVID-19 outbreak since the pandemic began; the move will affect not only tech manufacturing but container shipments.
Some of the world’s largest tech manufacturers have temporarily shuttered operations in China amid government lock downs in multiple provinces and cities meant to stem the spread of a COVID-19 outbreak. As part of its zero-tolerance goal to suppress COVID-19’s spread, the Chinese government ordered lockdowns in several places, including Shanghai and Shenzhen, a major container port and tech hub. Residents in cities under lockdown can only leave their homes for essential reasons. Foxconn, the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer and Apple’s largest iPhone supplier, said in a statement today it will suspend production at its Longhua and Guanlan factories in Shenzhen. Those factories will remain closed “until further notice from the local government. “Due to our diversified production sites in China, we have adjusted the production line to minimize the potential impact,“ the company said in a statement provided to „China Daily.“ China is in the midst of its largest coronavirus surge since the start of the pandemic due to an arrival of the Omicron variant. The lockdown in Shenzhen is scheduled to last six days. “[Shenzhen] is like the Silicon Valley of China where there are many tech suppliers for other tech giants as well,” said Alla Valente, a senior analyst for research firm Forrester. “This is another setback for supply chains.” Along with Foxconn, about 30 Taiwanese companies announced production stoppages at factories in the Shenzhen, which is located along the northern border of Hong Kong.
