iPhone maker Pegatron suspends operations at two plants in China due to Covid-19 restrictions

An Israeli woman uses her iPhone in front of the building housing the Israeli NSO group on 28 August 2016, in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv.
AFP

Taiwanese company Pegatron, a major manufacturer of iPhones for Apple, has suspended its operations at two plants in China, one in Shanghai and the other in Kunshan.

As per The Verge, the decision comes after China had put strict policies and protocols in place due to a recent resurgence of Covid-19 in the country. China has been put under a strict lockdown since March, with the country witnessing its biggest Covid-19 outbreak since the coronavirus was discovered in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan.

Tech manufacturing companies all over the world highly depend on China and Southeast Asia for their production. With an ongoing global chip shortage, logistics and transportation issues are arising more than ever.

Potential issues like delivery delays and component mismatches, also come as key drawbacks of a weakened manufacturing industry due to Covid-19.

Pegatron, responsible for manufacturing about 20 to 30 per cent of all iPhones, hopes for resuming work again but it's highly unclear exactly when it could happen.

The Taiwanese company says that the resumption of work depends on the two plants being given clearance by the government.

Apart from Pegatron, 'Quanta' which helps make MacBooks, has also halted production at a site in Shanghai, according to Nikkei Asia.