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☆ Foxconn Zhengzhou plant's Dec shipments hit 90% of original target - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TAIPEI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - December shipments from Foxconn's (2317.TW) Zhengzhou iPhone plant in China were 90% of the firm's initial plans, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the facility strives to recover from its COVID-induced woes. Foxconn declined to comment. The world's largest iPhone manufacturing facility was hit late last year by a COVID-19 outbreak that prompted worker departures and unrest as well as production disruptions. Reporting by Yimou Lee in Taipei, Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China state media plays down severity of COVID wave before WHO meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The World Health Organization on Friday urged China's health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information on the COVID situation. The agency has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a meeting of a technical advisory group scheduled for Tuesday. The European Union has offered free COVID vaccines to China to help contain the outbreak, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. China has rejected criticism of its COVID data and said any new mutations may be more infectious but less harmful. Data on Tuesday showed China's factory activity shrank at a sharper pace in December as the COVID wave disrupted production and hurt demand.

☆ Foxconn's COVID-hit China plant close to resuming full production, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Yimou Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Foxconn's COVID-hit iPhone plant in China's Zhengzhou city is almost back to full production, with its December shipments reaching about 90% of initial plans, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. A company source told Reuters last month that it was aiming for the plant to resume full production around late December to early January. "Production has almost fully resumed," said one of the people on Tuesday, who declined to be identified as the information was private. The second person said production was nearly back to normal but that company officials remained cautious over the outlook due to a spike of COVID-19 cases across China. The Zhengzhou plant's troubles highlighted the difficulties companies and workers had in adhering to China's zero-COVID-19 policy.

☆ Foxconn's COVID-hit China plant close to resuming full production -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Yimou Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Foxconn's Covid-hit China plant close to resuming full production, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Foxconn's Covid-hit iPhone plant in China's Zhengzhou city is almost back to full production, with its December shipments reaching about 90% of initial plans, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. It was also hit by a bout of worker unrest over payment issues. Foxconn has been offering bonuses to attract new workers and convince those still there to stay on. A company source told Reuters last month that it was aiming for the plant to resume full production around late December to early January. "Production has almost fully resumed," said one of the people on Tuesday, who declined to be identified as the information was private.

☆ Global Trade Is Shifting, Not Reversing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Stephen Wilmot | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Volkswagen assembly plant in Mexico, a country where an established manufacturing sector is anchored by the automotive industry. More likely is a continuing reshuffling of trade flows that creates new geopolitical winners—if they are savvy enough to take advantage. Global trade took some big knocks in 2022. The Biden administration rolled out huge subsidies for making semiconductors and electric-vehicle batteries in the U.S.—industries now dominated by Asia. At the company level, following unrest in Zhengzhou, China, Apple accelerated plans to diversify iPhone manufacturing away from the country.

☆ Apple iPhone Output in China Begins to Catch Up Despite Covid-19 Issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Yang Jie | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Covid-19 issues in China are still hampering manufacturing of Apple Inc.’s iPhone, but production is beginning to catch up to demand for the more-expensive Pro models, according to analysts and people involved in the supply chain. Models such as the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which starts at about $1,100, are integral to Apple’s strategy of increasing revenue when growth in the overall global smartphone market is slowing. That strategy took a hit in October when Covid-19 outbreaks hit the main manufacturing base for iPhone Pro models, operated by Foxconn Technology Group in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou.

☆ Apple’s iPhone Output in China Begins to Catch Up Despite Covid-19 Outbreaks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Yang Jie | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Apple Production in China Begins to Catch Up Despite Covid-19 Woes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Yang Jie | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ 'It's a lot more of headline risks than anything else': Analyst maintains bullish outlook on Apple
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In this article AAPL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTAn Apple store on Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street in Shanghai, China, on December 16, 2022. The outbreak could potentially cause worker shortages at component plants or assembly factories across the country. For the last two months, Apple has already been grappling with production shortages. In November, iPhone 14 production was hit by Covid-19 restrictions and labor protests at its primary iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max assembly plant in Zhengzhou, China. Despite shortages, many analysts predicted that Apple customers will continue to be loyal to the brand's products.

☆ One dead in big pileup on Chinese bridge shrouded in fog
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 28 (Reuters) - One person was killed on Wednesday when more than 200 vehicles were involved in a pile-up on a bridge in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou in heavy fog, rescuers and the CCTV state broadcaster reported. Full of people here, I don't think we can get off the bridge," one person can be heard saying in one video clip. Visibility in many areas was less than 500 metres on Wednesday morning and down to 200 metres at times, the meteorological service said. Rescuers said more than 200 vehicles had slammed into each other, media reported. CCTV reported that cars travelling in both directions over the bridge, a major crossing of the Yellow River, were involved in numerous crashes.

☆ Apple’s Best Bet Against China Might Be India
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Megha Mandavia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The potential of India’s own consumer market makes it even more attractive for electronics manufacturers. India could well become the manufacturing darling of Apple this decade. But New Delhi also deserves credit for a concerted push to make India an easier—and financially more attractive—place to build gadgets. Many Western manufacturers are increasingly uncomfortable with their heavy reliance on China—especially after its uncompromising and unpredictable approach to public health over the past year. Violent protests at Apple supplier Foxconn ‘s Zhengzhou factory in November further highlighted the risks of an overly concentrated supply chain.

☆ China Jan-Nov industrial profit data shows deepening slump
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Industrial profits fell 3.6% in January-November from a year earlier to 7.7 trillion yuan ($1.11 trillion), according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday. Business confidence in China has fallen to its lowest level since January 2013, a survey showed last week, reflecting the impact of surging COVID cases on economic activity. At this year's closed-door Central Economic Work Conference, top leaders and policymakers pledged to step up policy adjustments to support the slowing economy. Industrial profit data covers large firms with annual revenues above 20 million yuan from their main operations. ($1 = 6.9601 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Joe Cash and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Edmund KlamannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Industrial profits fell 3.6% in January-November from a year earlier to 7.7 trillion yuan ($1.11 trillion), according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday. Industrial profits could fall further in December with many cities facing a surge in COVID infections, said Hao Zhou, chief economist at GTJAI. For January-November, profits at private-sector firms shrank 7.9%, a slight improvement from the 8.1% fall in the first 10 months. China's economic growth was just 3% in the first three quarters of this year and is expected to stay around that rate for the full year, one of its worst years in almost half a century. Industrial profit data covers large firms with annual revenues above 20 million yuan from their main operations.

☆ JPMorgan cuts Christmas iPhone expectations again, lowers Apple price target
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

JPMorgan cut its iPhone shipment forecast for the December quarter once again as Apple faces the fallout from the temporary shutdown at one of its largest assembly plants. Analyst Samik Chatterjee trimmed the bank's shipment estimates to 70 million from 74 million and cut the bank's price target on the stock to $190 a share, citing supply chain challenges resulting from the plant closure. The cut accounts for a downdraft of both 2 million iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max units. The bank previously cut estimates for the December period by 8 million, accounting for 5 million fewer Pro and 3 million other iPhone shipments. His forecast now expects 235 million iPhone shipments for the full year, down from a previous 237 million estimates, and representing a 5% decline year over year.

☆ Apple will reportedly begin producing some MacBooks in Vietnam in 2023 as it shifts from China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Apple will begin producing some of its MacBook computers in Vietnam next year, according to a Nikkei Asia report Tuesday. Apple was reportedly in talks in August to move some production for its Apple Watches, MacBooks and HomePods to Vietnam. Now, the company's assembly partner Foxconn could begin producing MacBooks in the country as soon as May of 2023, according to Nikkei Asia. Nikkei Asia said the company has been planning to shift some of its MacBook production to Vietnam for the last two years. Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook has committed to buying U.S.-made chips from a new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing factory in Arizona.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Hostess, Home Depot, Rivian, Netflix & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Atlantic Equities names Coca-Cola as a top 2023 pick Atlantic Equities said it sees "category momentum" for shares of the beverage giant. JPMorgan reiterates Apple as overweight JPMorgan cut its price target on Apple to $190 per share from $200 due to supply chain challenges concerns. JPMorgan names Amazon as a top 2023 pick JPMorgan said Amazon is the "most diversified mega-cap across revs/profit & has numerous large growth opportunities." JPMorgan resumes DuPont as overweight JPMorgan resumed coverage of the stock and said it sees several positive catalysts ahead. JPMorgan names Bank of America a top 2023 pick JPMorgan said it likes the stock due to a "lower share of nonprime consumer loans."

It marked the slowest growth since May when Shanghai was under lockdown, partly due to disruptions in key manufacturing hubs Guangzhou and Zhengzhou. Retail sales fell 5.9% amid broad-based weakness in the services sector, also the biggest contraction since May. "The weak activity data suggest that the policy needs to be eased further to revive the growth momentum," said Hao Zhou, chief economist at GTJAI. "The increased size of the MLF rollover this morning is in line with the overall easing policy tones. That would hit businesses and consumers, while a weakening global economy hurts Chinese exports.

☆ Asia's year in review: Who had it good — and who had it bad — in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Curtis Chin | Jose Collazo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

As the new year approaches, we turn again to our annual look at Asia's winners and losers. Government and business leaders in every major economy — China now included — may well hope 2023 is the year when draconian pandemic-related lockdowns become a matter of history. Underscoring the Taiwanese tech industry's critical role, a Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA)/Boston Consulting Group 2021 study found that 92% of the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity is located in Taiwan. With numbers like those, Taiwan's semiconductor industry ends the year on the move, still building ties and winning growing support from business and government in the United States and elsewhere. Mixed Year: Asia's 'love' for cryptoAs in much of the world, investors in Asia — once bedazzled if not bewitched by the crypto industry — end the year in a mixed mood.

☆ China re-opens more areas at risk for COVID spread as lockdowns ease
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 12 (Reuters) - China has slashed the number of locations deemed at high risk of wider COVID outbreaks, re-opening locked down areas including one hosting a key factory of an Apple supplier. The number of high-risk areas tumbled to around 4,500 on Monday, official data showed, down 85% from more than 30,000 on Dec. 7 before the latest policy shift was announced. Last month, thousands of workers fled the Foxconn facility on fears of COVID lockdowns, curtailing production. High-risk areas without new infections for five consecutive days should be released from lockdown, according to one of China's latest protocols released on Dec. 7. Local authorities have also been warned not to arbitrarily expand the scope of lockdowns or prolong them.

☆ Apple made China the backbone of its iPhone assembly. Shifting away could take years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

For years, Apple has relied on a vast manufacturing network in China to mass produce the iPhone, iPad and other popular products found in households around the world. “Apple would not be the company that it is today without China as a manufacturing base,” said Eli Friedman, a professor at Cornell University whose research focuses on labor and development in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook, who helped build the company’s global supply chain, acknowledged the unique manufacturing strengths of China in one 2015 interview. Labor costs in China, while on the rise over the past decade, are also “artificially cheap because of political repression against labor organizers,” according to Friedman. Another key element to why Apple “is really reluctant to rock the boat with China is that China is also a massive market for Apple,” according to Wharton’s Allon.

☆ Foxconn's COVID-hit China plant lifts "closed-loop" management curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - HONG KONG, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Apple supplier Foxconn's (2317.TW) COVID-hit Zhengzhou facility in China has lifted its "closed-loop" management curbs on Thursday, it said in a statement posted on its WeChat account. The Zhengzhou industrial park where Foxconn's plant locates has been under a so-called closed-loop system that isolated the plant from the wider world for 56 days, the statement said. Its Zhengzhou plant was in October hit by a COVID-19 outbreak that prompted it to impose tough restrictions that involved isolating many staff. Foxconn could have seen more than 30% of the Zhengzhou site's November production affected, Reuters reported last month citing a source familiar with the matter. The company's November revenue fell 11.4% year on year reflecting production problems related to COVID controls at the major iPhone factory.

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.

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.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn pushed China to ease COVID curbs - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Apple supplier Foxconn's (2317.TW) founder-director Terry Gou had warned China that the government's zero-COVID stance would threaten the position of the world's second-largest economy in the global supply chain, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Taiwan-based company's Zhengzhou plant, which saw a month-long unrest in November, has lifted its "closed-loop" management curbs on Thursday. The Zhengzhou plant had been grappling with strict COVID restrictions that fuelled discontent among workers over factory conditions, triggering an 11.4% year-on-year drop in November revenue. Some Wall Street analysts cut their iPhone shipment targets for the all-important holiday quarter as a result of turmoil at the major iPhone factory. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Sarah Wu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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