Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) biggest iPhone maker Foxconn has resumed production at a key plant in China after being forced to shut it following the coronavirus outbreak.
While the restart of production is positive, only 10% of the factory’s workforce has managed to return, according to Foxconn. Many workers remain at home or quarantined with the coronavirus.
Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, got the green light to restart production in the eastern Chinese city of Zhengzhou, but has not yet been allowed to restart production in Shenzhen, a southern manufacturing hub.
The two factories together make up the bulk of Foxconn’s assembly lines for Apple’s iPhones, and the delays are likely to impact global shipments. Market research firm Trendforce on Monday cut its March-quarter forecast for iPhone production by 10% to 41 million handsets.
Apple rival and China’s biggest smartphone maker, Huawei, said last week that it had resumed production of consumer devices and carrier equipment, and all of its Chinese operations are now running normally.
