Workers at a Zhengzhou factory campus last month left amid Covid fears, and the company has offered employees bonuses for returning if they are able to find work.
The newly hired employee said management didn’t keep their promises, and workers who clashed with guards in hazmat suits were eventually offered cash to quit and leave. Analysts said troubles at Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn, a top Apple supplier that owns the facility, will also accelerate the pace of diversification away from China into countries like India.
Apple’s continued production disruptions at Foxconn’s sprawling campus in Zhengzhou city are a “albatross” for the company, according to Daniel Ives, its director of equity research managing at Wedbush Securities.
“Every week of this shutdown and riot, we estimate that Apple is losing about $1 billion in iPhone sales a week,” he said. “It could be off the table, if the government doesn’t come up with a solution soon.”
