Apple manufacturer and supplier Foxconn is back to work in China and said production would be back to normal by the end of the month following the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported on Tuesday (March 3).
More than 50 percent of its sidelined seasonal workers are now working again after the Taiwanese firm previously said it could not anticipate the impact of the coronavirus on revenue.
“Prevention of the outbreak, resumption of work and production are our top priority,” Chairman Liu Young-Way said during an online investor conference on Tuesday. Young tried to convince investors that supply chain issues were minimal and said Foxconn was lending a hand to suppliers so they can get back to work.
The highly contagious, flu-like virus that originated in China at the end of 2019 made its way to over 70 countries and infected over 90,000 people. In excess of 3,100 people have died, most in China.
Foxconn, which makes iPhone components, is among many global suppliers and manufacturers wrestling with the fallout from the virus, which has a negative effect on supply chains and production.
Hyundai Motor, for example, said its most recent monthly sales figures are the lowest in 10 years. Apple repealed its March quarter sales guidance amid manufacturing delays, travel constraints and a prolonged Lunar New Year recess.
Although Foxconn said at the end of February it was “cautiously” resuming production at its main facilities in China, the outbreak will still have a negative effect on its 2020 revenue. Previously named Hon Hai Precision Industry, Foxconn expects that the stoppage will stall Apple’s introduction of new iPhones.
The first few months of the year are when Apple engineers typically head somewhere in Asia to work on the finishing touches of new iPhone models, former employees and supply chain experts told Reuters.
Shares in Foxconn are down over 10 percent so far in 2020.
In June, Foxconn was considering moving production out of China due to the trade wars with the U.S.
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