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China has begun to ease some of its Covid restrictions after following a strict containment policy. A letter from the founder of the world’s largest iPhone assembler played a major role in persuading China’s Communist Party leadership to accelerate plans to dismantle the country’s zero-tolerance Covid-19 policies, according to people familiar with the matter. In the letter to Chinese leaders, Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou warned that strict Covid controls would threaten China’s central position in global supply chains and demanded more transparency into restrictions on the company’s workers, the people said. Mr. Gou sent the letter a little more than a month ago as Foxconn’s factory in the city of Zhengzhou was rocked by turmoil over Covid restrictions.

☆ How Foxconn’s Covid Crisis Unfolded, Delaying Your New iPhone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Three Ways Democrats Could Overhaul the Debt Ceiling House Republicans are planning to use the debt ceiling, which will need to be raised in 2023, as leverage to get spending cuts. But Democrats are looking to act now in the lameduck session to prevent that. WSJ explains three things they could do.

☆ Premarket stocks: The last time the US faced a debt fight this bad it lost its AAA rating
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In a note on Monday, Goldman Sachs analysts warned that the upcoming debt limit battle in Washington could spark the most uncertainty since the disruptive 2011 debates that cost America its perfect AAA credit score and caused chaos on Wall Street. “To raise the debt limit next year, bipartisan support will be necessary but hard to achieve,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in the report. Goldman Sachs analysts wrote that the political environment has “echoes of 1995 and 2011” — two very tense standoffs over the debt limit that hurt Main Street and Wall Street. Pain ahead: “It seems likely that uncertainty over the debt limit in 2023 could lead to substantial volatility in financial markets,” wrote Goldman analysts. “A failure to make timely payments would likely hit consumer confidence hard,” Goldman Sachs wrote.

☆ Foxconn’s November Revenue Fell 11% After Covid Outbreak at iPhone Factory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Kosaku Narioka | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Foxconn said in its monthly revenue report that the Covid situation is under control and it is moving toward restoring normal production capacity. Foxconn Technology Group ‘s November revenue dropped 11% from a year earlier after shipments from Zhengzhou, China, the world’s biggest iPhone assembly site, were affected by a Covid-19 outbreak, the company said Monday. Foxconn’s November revenue fell to 551.1 billion new Taiwan dollars, equivalent to $18 billion, from NT$621.7 billion a year earlier, the company said.

☆ Foxconn restoring production at world's largest iPhone factory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The “epidemic situation” at the facility, known as iPhone City and normally home to hundreds of thousands of workers, has been brought under control, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer said in a statement on Monday. Its executives were quoted as telling Reuters that full production would resume between late December and early January. Analysts said the production woes at iPhone City would speed up the pace of Apple’s supply chain diversification away from China. In recent weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal, Apple (AAPL) has accelerated plans to shift some of its production outside China. If Apple moves aggressively, more than 50% of iPhone production could come from India and Vietnam by the 2025/2026 fiscal year, versus the single-digit percentage currently, he added.

HONG KONG, Dec 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Covid-19 lockdowns and protests across China have highlighted the risks of the mutual dependence between Taiwan's Foxconn and its top customer Apple (AAPL.O). It makes 70% of the world’s iPhones, according to Fubon Research. Meanwhile Apple’s huge investments into Foxconn have paid off: the U.S. company is the most profitable smartphone maker by far. Foxconn has been scrambling to contain the fallout, offering bonuses to temporary workers and shifting production to other facilities. At the time, Foxconn said it was bringing the situation under control and was coordinating with other plants to increase production.

☆ China’s Zhengzhou, home to world’s largest iPhone factory, ends Covid lockdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —The central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, home to the world’s largest iPhone factory, has lifted a five-day Covid lockdown, in a move that analysts have called a much-needed relief for Apple and its main supplier Foxconn. Zhengzhou is the site of “iPhone City,” a sprawling manufacturing campus owned by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn that normally houses about 200,000 workers churning out products for Apple (AAPL), including the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. The troubles started in October when workers left the campus in Zhengzhou, the capital of the central province of Henan, due to Covid-related fears. Total iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max shipments in the current quarter would be 15 million to 20 million units less than previously anticipated, according to Kuo. Due to the high price of the iPhone 14 Pro series, Apple’s overall iPhone revenue in the current holiday quarter could be 20% to 30% lower than investors’ expectations, he added.

[1/4] FILE PHOTO: The logo of Foxconn is seen outside the company's building in Taipei, Taiwan November 10, 2022. The plant owned by Taiwan-based Foxconn, battered by China's strict COVID restrictions and facing critical year-end holiday demand, was offering enticing hiring bonuses and excellent pay. Hou said he was promised up to 30,000 yuan ($4,200) for just under four months' work - far above the 12,000-16,000 yuan Foxconn workers usually get for four months. In a rare example of large-scale labour unrest in China, Foxconn workers in COVID masks clashed with security personnel in white hazmat suits holding plastic shields. The company previously apologised to workers for a pay-related "technical error" that it said occurred when it was hiring.

☆ Reactions to Apple supplier Foxconn's labour unrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of employees at Foxconn's (2317.TW) flagship iPhone plant in China have quit since last week, as the major Apple (AAPL.O) supplier battles the latest bout of labour unrest that began in late October due to strict zero-COVID policy. "We see that in these times of unrest, Apple needs to intensify its dialogue with Foxconn management, and if possible Chinese authorities, to communicate in strong terms what its policy expectations are around labour rights, and find solutions to stabilise the situation." As a first step, we have contacted Apple to understand how management views and addresses the on-going situation and what measures they are taking." JANNE WERNING, HEAD OF ESG CAPITAL MARKETS & STEWARDSHIP AT UNION INVESTMENT"This shows the importance of labour standards in the supply chain. We expect Apple, as one of the main buyers, to reassert its influence at Foxconn.

☆ China sees protests against COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

CHINA PROTESTS Fire deaths fuel COVID lockdown fury How the protests gained momentumProtests have flared in several cities in mainland China in recent days, in a wave of civil disobedience unprecedented since President Xi Jinping assumed power a decade ago. Protests reported across China Protest mapAlthough the demonstrations in recent days are thousands of miles apart, they share elements in common. Video shows crowds topple police barricades in the street to protest against COVID curbs in China’s Guangzhou Crowds topple police barricades in the street to protest against COVID curbs in Guangzhou, China. Nov. 25 – Urumqi protests Crowds took to the streets at night in Urumqi, chanting "End the lockdown!" Video shows people in China’s Xinjiang protesting against COVID lockdown measures in China Protests against COVID lockdown measures in China's XinjiangIn the capital, Beijing, some 2,700 km (1,678 miles) to the east, some residents under lockdown staged small-scale protests or confronted local officials over movement restrictions.

☆ Apple has a huge problem at Foxconn's iPhone factory in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Every week of this shutdown and unrest we estimate is costing Apple roughly $1 billion a week in lost iPhone sales. Now roughly 5% of iPhone 14 sales are likely off the table due to these brutal shutdowns in China,” he said. Security forces clash with workers during a protest outside Apple supplier Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou, China, on November 23. Covid outbreakEarlier this month, Apple said shipments of its latest lineup of iPhones would be “temporarily impacted” by Covid restrictions in China. Even before this week’s demonstrations, Apple had started making the iPhone 14 in India, as it sought to diversify its supply chain away from China.

“The new recruits had to work more days to get the bonus they were promised, so they felt cheated,” the worker told CNN. Apple, for which Foxconn manufactures a range of products, told CNN Business that its employees were on the ground at the Zhengzhou facility. Videos showed workers clashing with security guards and fighting back tear gas fired by police. More workers joined the protest after seeing livestreams on video platforms Kuaishou and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, the worker told CNN. Having worked at the Zhengzhou plant for six years, he said he was now deeply disappointed by Foxconn and planned to quit.

Beijing/Hong Kong CNN Business —Workers at China’s largest iPhone assembly factory were seen confronting police, some in riot gear, on Wednesday, according to videos shared over social media. Videos of many people leaving Zhengzhou on foot had gone viral on Chinese social media earlier in November, forcing Foxconn to step up measures to get its staff back. Numerous complaints have also been posted anonymously on social media platforms — accusing Foxconn of having changed the salary packages previously advertised. Searches for the term “Foxconn” on Chinese social media now yield few results, an indication of heavy censorship. A vital hubThe Zhengzhou facility is the world’s largest iPhone assembly site.

Hong Kong/Beijing CNN Business —More than 100,000 people have signed up for a massive recruitment drive by Apple’s supplier Foxconn for the largest iPhone factory in China, according to Chinese state media. And our hiring process is now closed temporarily,” a Foxconn executive, Yang Han, in Zhengzhou told state news outlet Yicai on Thursday. Some local governments in Henan have recently also asked community officials to join the production line themselves, according to multiple Chinese state media reports. Several unidentified such officials, also known colloquially as local “grassroots officials,” or “cadres,” told state media publication Cailian Press Tuesday that they were told to work at the Zhengzhou campus from one to six months. “We now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated,” the tech giant said in a statement earlier this month.

New Delhi CNN Business —One of Apple’s largest suppliers is trying to strike a delicate balance in China. Foxconn’s statement came just a day after Apple said it expects iPhone 14 shipments to be hit by China’s Covid curbs, which have “significantly reduced capacity” at the Zhengzhou facility, the world’s biggest iPhone factory. “The epidemic has disrupted our work and life, but… the company has achieved milestone results in the current epidemic prevention measures,” Foxconn said on its Zhengzhou recruitment WeChat account on Monday. New workers will be offered a salary of 30 yuan ($4) per hour, according to the post. Last Wednesday, Chinese authorities imposed a seven-day lockdown on the manufacturing zone that houses the Foxconn plant.

☆ IPhone plant woes are least of Apple’s problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But problems there look pale in comparison to other issues caused by Apple’s own consumers. The company led by Tim Cook warned on Nov. 6 that disruption at the Zhengzhou complex has lowered shipments of high-end iPhone 14 Pro phones. Apple recently put on ice plans to increase production of the newly launched iPhone 14. But last quarter, sales of services rose just 5%, a huge step back from the 25% jump in sales in the same quarter in 2021. Follow @rob_cyran on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSApple warned on Nov. 6 that shipments of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have been disrupted by production woes at a Hon Hai Precision Industry complex in Zhengzhou, China.

New Delhi CNN Business —Foxconn, one of Apple’s largest suppliers, is wrestling with major disruption at its biggest iPhone assembly factory in China, as anxious workers reportedly flee the facility, according to social media videos. “[We] fully understand your eagerness to go back home,” Foxconn told its employees over the weekend, according to a post on Zhengzhou government’s official WeChat account. The Zhengzhou campus is the world’s biggest iPhone factory and typically accounts for as much as 85% of iPhone assembly capacity, according to Lam’s estimates. State media has said that many Foxconn workers are among those walking miles to escape the city. While these disruptions will impact iPhone production in the near term, analysts say it may not dent Apple’s iPhone shipments in the key holiday season.

☆ Inside a Chinese iPhone Plant, Foxconn Grapples With Covid Chaos
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Wenxin Fan | Selina Cheng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG— Foxconn Technology Group is scrambling to contain a weekslong Covid-19 outbreak at an iPhone factory in central China, trying to appease frightened and frustrated workers during a crucial period for smartphone orders. In Foxconn’s main Zhengzhou facility, the world’s biggest assembly site for Apple Inc.’s iPhones, hundreds of thousands of workers have been placed under a closed-loop system for almost two weeks. They are largely shut off from the outside world, allowed only to move between their dorms or homes and the production lines.

☆ IPhone maker Foxconn reveals its electric car future
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Lordstown Motors sold the factory to Foxconn earlier this year while Foxconn, in turn, agreed to build Lordstown’s electric pickup, the Endurance, there. Another California-based startup, Indi EV, has also agreed to have Foxconn build its car, the Indi One, there. Aside from road-going automobiles, Foxconn has also agreed to build an electric farm tractor, the Monarch MK-V, at the factory. Luxgen’s parent company, Yulon Group, and Foxconn created a joint venture called Foxtron in 2021 to develop and manufacture electric vehicles. Various Foxconn companies are part of an large industry group called the MIH, or Mobility in Harmony, consortium, which is jointly developing the basic electric vehicle engineering platform that underlies Foxconn’s electric vehicles.

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