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Apple To Move MORE iPhone Production Out Of China!

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Apple has accelerated its plans to leave Zhengzhou in China, where the massive iPhone City manufacturing zone is located!

 

Apple To Move MORE iPhone Production Out Of China!

As anti-government protests continue across China, Apple is accelerating its plans to leave Zhengzhou – where the massive iPhone City manufacturing zone is located!

Apple CEO Tim Cook is now eyeing Vietnam and India as new manufacturing hubs to replace Zhengzhou, where Foxconn workers earlier fled amidst repeated protests.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple now plans to move to 45% of iPhone production to factories in India, and ramp up production of its MacBooks, Apple Watches and AirPods in Vietnam.

Those moves come with serious challenges as Apple faces having to deal with different regional government bureaucracies in India.

Meanwhile, Vietnam only has 10% of China’s population, and can only handle a 60,000 person factory – far smaller than the 300,000 person “iPhone City” in Zhengzhou.

So Apple is still considering switching to other suppliers in China – Luxshare Precision Industry Co. and Wingtech Technology Co., although these alternate plans may be jeopardised by the Chinese government’s persistence with its Zero COVID policy.

Read more : China Lifts Some COVID-19 Restrictions Over Protests!

 

Apple Earlier Planned To Move iPhone Production Out Of China!

While Apple had been planning the move for months due to the Chinese government’s insistence on Zero COVID policy, the recent uprisings at its Zhengzhou manufacturing hub has accelerated those plans.

In November, iPhone City in Zhengzhou erupted in violent protests by Foxconn employees over strict Zero COVID policies and pay disputes, prompting a lockdown.

This forced Foxconn to offer $1,400 to quit their jobs, and later, a $1,800 bonus to stay. Even so, manufacturing at Zhengzhou is down to about 20% of its capacity.

Foxconn has tried to shift some of its production to its Shenzhen factory, but it cannot make up the shortfall, which is reported to be as much as 6 million iPhone Pro smartphones.

Things got so bad the Chinese government even called on military veterans and CCP members to work at the iPhone City factories as volunteers!

 

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China Lifts Some COVID-19 Restrictions Over Protests!

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China abruptly lifted COVID-19 restrictions in several Chinese cities, after large protests erupted in at least seventeen cities.

 

China Lifts Some COVID-19 Restrictions Over Protests

The CCP government of China has been cracking down on protests that have spread to at least seventeen cities, but its resolve appear to have cracked a little.

The authorities in the major cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Zhengzhou abruptly lifted COVID-19 lockdown measures and restrictions.

On Wednesday afternoon, 30 November 2022, Chinese authorities announced the lifting of lockdowns in four districts in Guangzhou, and instructed local officials to remove “temporary control orders” and to predesignate those areas as “low risk”. They also announced an end to mass PCR testing for COVID-19.

Both Guangzhou and Chongqing also announced that close contacts of COVID-19 positive people will be allowed to quarantine at home instead of being forcibly taken to a quarantine centre, subject to certain conditions.

Shanghai – China’s largest and most affluent city, announced that the lockdown of 24 high-risk areas across 11 of its districts would be lifted on Thursday, 1 December 2022.

The city of Zhengzhou – the location of the massive iPhone factory and earlier protests, announced the “orderly” resumption of business, including markets, supermark1ets, restaurants and cinemas. While lifting COVID-19 restrictions in general, they published a list of buildings that would remain under lockdown.

Read more : How Apple Helps China Limit Protests Using AirDrop!

 

China Could Quietly Kill Zero COVID Policy Over Protests

China could be preparing to quietly “kill” its Zero COVID policy that had been the hallmark “achievement” of President Xi Jinping.

On Wednesday, 30 November 2022, Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan – China’s most senior official in charge of its COVID-19 response, told health officials that the country faced “a new stage and mission” in pandemic control.

She noticeably did not mention the Zero COVID policy, but said that the National Health Commission (NHC) should take a “human-centred approach”, in an apparent nod to the anti-government protests that have wracked multiple Chinese cities.

Sun also called for China to enhance its “diagnosis, testing, treatment and quarantine” measures, while boosting vaccination rates especially for its senior citizens, and beef up medication and medical resources.

This appears to suggest that the Chinese authorities are at least thinking of further loosening its strict Zero COVID measures, if not killing it completely.

Read more : iPhone Factory Under Lockdown, As Employees Flee!

Her comments come a day after top Chinese health officials pledged to change COVID-19 control measures to reduce their impact on people’s lives.

Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) officials said that lockdowns to suppress the spread of COVID-19 should be lifted “as quickly as possible” during outbreaks.

Cheng Youquan – a director at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that some control measures were implemented “excessively” by local officials taking a “one size fits all” approach, without regard for people’s demands.

NHC officials also announced an “action plan’ to boost vaccination rates amongst the elderly, which would be necessary if China is to reopen the country.

As of November 28, about 90% of Chinese population received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, but only 66% of people over 80 have done so. A very high vaccination rate is critical, because Chinese vaccines have much lower efficacy than Western vaccines.

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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iPhone Factory Under Lockdown, As Employees Flee!

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The massive iPhone factory in Zhengzhou is now under another COVID-19 lockdown, after thousands of employees fled!

 

iPhone Factory Now Under COVID-19 Lockdown!

On Wednesday, 2 November 2022, China placed the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone under a new COVID-19 lockdown. This is where Foxconn has its largest iPhone factory, employing about 200,000 workers

The Zhengzhou industrial zone, located in the Henan province, was placed under “silent management” measures with immediate effect, and last for one week – until November 9, 2022.

  • all residents are barred from going out
  • only approved vehicles are allowed on the road

Foxconn said in a statement that its campus will continue operating under a “closed loop” management system, in which employees sleep, live and work in a bubble, isolated from the rest of Zhengzhou and the world.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that such a lockdown could cut production of Apple iPhones by as much as 30%, and that Foxconn was working to boost production at their Shenzhen factory to make up for the shortfall.

Read more : Apple Freezes Use Of China’s YMTC NAND Chips!

 

Employees Have Been Fleeing iPhone Factory For Days!

For several days now, Foxconn employees have been fleeing the Zhengzhou factory, after some workers were placed under quarantine following a COVID-19 outbreak.

The Foxconn employees also complained of poor food quality, and a lack of medical care for those who tested positive.

On Sunday, 30 October, Foxconn said that it would not stop them from leaving, and many workers chose to walk back to their hometowns.

Videos of those employees climbing over fences, and walking away from the factory went viral. So did photos and videos of those Foxconn workers trekking across fields in the day, and long roads at night.

Some people were walking amid wheat fields with their luggage, blankets and quilt. I couldn’t help but feel sad.

Those videos galvanised volunteers from nearby villages to put out food and drinks for the workers. Foxconn and several local governments finally arranged transportation for them.

Workers who were transported back to their hometowns were quarantined on arrival. A belated measure that should have been initiated earlier.

 

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Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

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