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☆ Unrest and production disruptions at Foxconn's main iPhone plant in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of workers on Wednesday joined protests at Foxconn's (2317.TW) flagship iPhone plant in China, in the latest upheaval related to strict COVID-19 controls. Here is a timeline of problems at the world's biggest iPhone plant, located in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou. OCT. 21Foxconn tightens COVID-19 restrictions at the plant but says production remains normal. Cities in central China hastily draw up plans to isolate them, fearing they could trigger COVID outbreaks. NOV. 9The Zhengzhou plant continues to isolate its operations and staff despite the lift of a seven-day lockdown for the rest of the industrial park in which it is located.

Dow component (.DJI) Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) rose 1.9% after Cowen & Co upgraded the drug distributor stock, citing its healthcare services business push. Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) soared 9.4%, rising the most among S&P 500 (.SPX) components after forecasting a smaller-than-expected drop in annual sales. Energy (.SPNY) led gains among the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes, bouncing off four-week lows by adding 2%. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.70-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.12-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 19 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 49 new highs and 122 new lows.

Easing Covid measures means accepting a rise in cases that is likely to get worse as winter approaches. Residents buy medications at a pharmacy in Shijiazhuang, China, last week. “There will always be complaints.”Though many people in China still support “zero-Covid,” the strict measures have also stoked growing resentment. China is thus now facing a dual challenge, said Donald Low, a professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “You’re going to see the Hong Kong story played out on a much larger scale” in mainland China, Low said.

☆ Apple's Pro iPhones will be harder to find in stores this holiday -Best Buy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) high-end iPhones will be in short supply at stores this holiday season, Best Buy Co Inc's (BBY.N) chief executive said on Tuesday, as the tech giant grapples with production issues at a virus-blighted plant in China. read moreThe supply issues are expected to most significantly impact Apple's premium iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models, which start at nearly $1,000. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said the electronics retail giant was seeing a shortage in stocks of the premium iPhones and had factored the expected loss in sales into its holiday quarter forecast. Apple's iPhones and other products draw a lot of customers to Best Buy stores and often trigger impulse buying of other gadgets as well. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates 8 million iPhone 14 units will be sold over the Black Friday weekend, about 2 million fewer than a year ago.

☆ Guangzhou Covid-19: China locks down key transportation hub; markets fear economic fallout
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN Business —China has locked down a major transportation hub in the south, as the country’s grapples with its largest nationwide Covid outbreak since April. The lockdown also follows rising cases in Beijing, which reported the country’s first Covid deaths in nearly six months. Asian markets and oil prices slid on Monday as investors fretted about the prospect of China re-tightening Covid rules. Guangzhou, one of China’s largest cities with nearly 19 million residents, imposed a five-day lockdown in Baiyun district, which is home to one of the country’s busiest airports. Goldman Sachs analysts said Monday that the latest news on China’s Covid management has been “confusing” to investors.

☆ Several Beijing districts shut schools as China COVID cases rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China is fighting numerous COVID-19 flare ups, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Chongqing in the southwest and for Sunday reported 26,824 new local cases, nearing April's peaks. It also recorded two deaths in Beijing, up from one on Saturday, which was China's first since late May. It also suspended dine-in services and shut night clubs and theatres in Tianhe, home to the city's main business district. This sparked worry among some local residents. The capital Beijing reported 962 new infections, up from 621 a day earlier.

☆ China’s Xi attempts to claim diplomatic victory in battle for global influence after summit whirlwind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday. Since taking office, Biden has shored up relations with allies and partners to counter China’s growing influence. In a rare, candid moment caught on camera, Xi chided Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accusing him of leaking details of a brief conversation between them. He also attended the Group of 20 dinner, where he shook hands and chatted with leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from the Dutch Prime Minister, Xi also invited US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s newly elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to visit Beijing early next year.

☆ China reports 24,473 new COVID cases; some Beijing businesses shut
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Numerous businesses in Beijing's Chaoyang district, the capital's main business and diplomatic area, have shut or announced only limited services. Beijing reported 79 symptomatic and 436 asymptomatic cases for Friday, down from 100 symptomatic and 366 asymptomatic cases the previous day, government data showed. Nationwide, the authorities reported 24,263 daily domestically transmitted cases, of which 2,055 were symptomatic and 22,208 were asymptomatic, down from 25,129 the previous day. Guangzhou, a city in the south of nearly 19 million people, reported 269 new domestically transmitted symptomatic cases and 8,444 asymptomatic cases, compared with 255 symptomatic and 8,989 asymptomatic cases a day before, authorities said. The manufacturing hub of Zhengzhou reported 182 new symptomatic locally transmitted COVID infections and 1,385 asymptomatic cases, compared with 107 symptomatic and 1,556 asymptomatic cases a day before, according to government data.

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.

☆ Chinese government reportedly helps the world's biggest iPhone-maker fill in labor shortages by recruiting Communist Party members and veterans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese government officials are helping Foxconn recruit Communist Party members, civil servants, and military veterans amid a labor shortage, NYT reports. Foxconn's labor shortage could mean iPhone shipment delays around the holidays. The move is reportedly part of a state-led effort to fill in the factory's labor shortage in the wake of a mass employee exodus over fears of strict COVID-related lockdowns. Foxconn's recruitment drive comes after hundreds of Foxconn workers fled its facilities in mid-October to avoid getting trapped quarantining there in light of a COVID-outbreak on-site. Unverified videos seen by Insider also show Foxconn workers protesting prison-like confinement in their dorms amid claims that eight employees allegedly died in a shared room, though Foxconn denied that anyone has died there.

Gao Mingjun’s mother, who works and lives at the Foxconn industrial park in Zhengzhou, Henan, was forced to wait outside in the middle of the night when one of her co-workers tested positive.

☆ Good luck finding an iPhone 14 Pro before Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max were also unavailable for pickup in most locations. Earlier this month, Apple released a statement that noted it is experiencing “strong demand” for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models but it expects lower shipments than anticipated. While it’s unclear whether the higher-end iPhone 14 models will be available in time, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Max showed availability in many locations for same-day pickup in CNN’s test on Thursday. Apple released its new smartphone lineup in September, including the larger 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus model and an updated iPhone 14 Pro that rethinks the much-maligned notch. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus start at $799 and $899, respectively, while the iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999 and the Pro Max starts at $1099.

☆ Covid curbs set off rare unrest in Chinese city of Guangzhou
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

BEIJING — Crowds of people in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou crashed through Covid barriers and marched down streets in chaotic scenes on Monday night, according to videos posted online, in a show of public resentment over coronavirus curbs. Neither the Guangzhou city government nor the Guangdong provincial police responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. Monday night’s scenes from Guangzhou were the latest outpouring of frustration over Covid curbs that have brought frequent lockdowns and enforced quarantines under a signature policy of President Xi Jinping that China argues saves lives. Last month, a Covid outbreak at a massive Foxconn plant that makes Apple iPhones in Zhengzhou set off chaos, with many workers fleeing, including by climbing fences, hobbling production. “It would become a testing point regarding the government’s determination to push for the relaxation of Covid control measures,” they said.

☆ Chinese authorities call on retired soldiers to help Foxconn iPhone plant -SSN
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Local authorities in China's Henan province are urging retired soldiers and government workers to take on stints at Foxconn's (2317.TW) iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday. Foxconn declined to comment on the hiring schemes, and also declined to give further updates on the Zhengzhou plant's manufacturing status. Apple last week lowered its forecast for shipments of the premium iPhone 14 model due to the situation. Reuters last month reported that Foxconn's production of Apple's iPhones at the Zhengzhou factory could slump by as much as 30% in November. On Tuesday, the Henan Daily reported that the factory received its first batch of new workers on Nov. 13.

☆ iPhone 14 Pro ship times slip past Christmas weeks after Apple warned of production issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

IPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max ship times in the U.S. have started slipping past Christmas, according to Apple's website and financial analysts. On Wednesday, checks by CNBC on Apple's U.S. website showed a shipping date of Dec. 27 for several iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. "While wait times had steadily moved higher in the prior surveys, the most recent data has hit an extreme level in our view," Vogt wrote. However, Apple's less expensive iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have no wait times on Apple's website and can be purchased immediately, which suggests that some consumers might decide to trade down in order to get their devices under the Christmas tree on time. "However, we now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated and customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products," Apple said.

"It would become a testing point regarding the government’s determination to push for the relaxation of COVID control measures," they said. China reported 17,772 new local COVID-19 infections for Nov. 14, up from 16,072 new cases a day earlier and the most since April, with major cities including Chongqing and Zhengzhou among the worst-hit. On Monday, Beijing's most populous district of Chaoyang, where most of its cases are located, moved some testing sites closer to residential compounds. On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV said Chaoyang district was adding more testing sites, including near office buildings. Under China's new rules, testing efforts are to be more targeted, easing what has been a significant financial burden on cities.

☆ iPhone supply disruptions in China weigh on Apple, but should be temporary headwind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Club take The production headwinds in China don't shake our confidence in Apple. At the same time, we're interested in getting a clearer picture on when iPhone production in China could normalize. We see production snags as a temporary risk that could moderate once China ultimately abandons its zero-Covid policy. Apart from production challenges in China, Apple's stock has been held back this year by macroeconomic pressures and foreign exchange headwinds, with shares down roughly 16% year-to-date. Apple's stock climbed nearly 8% last week, as tech stocks surged on the back of weaker-than-expected inflation data for October.

☆ China reports 16,203 new COVID cases for Nov 13 vs 14,878 a day earlier
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Thomas PeterSHANGHAI, Nov 14 (Reuters) - China reported 16,203 new COVID-19 infections for Nov. 13, of which 1,794 were symptomatic and 14,409 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Monday. That compared with 14,878 new cases a day earlier – 1,711 symptomatic and 13,167 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately. Excluding imported infections, China reported 16,072 new local cases, of which 1,747 were symptomatic and 14,325 were asymptomatic, up from 14,761 a day earlier. China's capital Beijing reported 237 symptomatic and 170 asymptomatic cases, compared with 161 symptomatic and 74 asymptomatic case the previous day, local government data showed. The city of Chongqing reported 150 new symptomatic locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and 2,147 asymptomatic cases, compared with 158 symptomatic and 1,662 asymptomatic cases the previous day, local authorities said.

☆ Chinese cities including Beijing report record COVID cases
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Currently COVID cases are rising in major cities such as Guangzhou and Chongqing, and zero-COVID policy continues, suggesting down-side risks to the near-term growth outlook," said analysts at U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs in a note on Monday. Shares of consumer staples (.CSICS) remained subdued on Monday, while stocks in tourism (.CSI930633) and transport (.CSI000957) slumped as domestic COVID cases surged and some investors booked profits on previous COVID easing bets. Beijing reported 407 cases on Monday, compared with 235 the previous day. Major manufacturing hub Zhengzhou in central China reported 2,981 new infections versus 2,642 a day prior. Chongqing, a southwestern city of more than 32 million people, also saw a jump in cases to 2,297 compared with 1,820 the previous day.

The number of daily cases in China rose from 11,950 on Nov. 11, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday. Capital city Beijing reported a record 235 new daily cases, up from 116 the previous day, local government data showed. Zhengzhou city in the Henan province, home to Apple supplier Foxconn's plant (2317.TW), reported a record 2,642 new daily cases. Foxconn has said it aims to resume full production in the second half of November, after operations were disrupted due to COVID prevention measures. read moreNHC said in a statement on Sunday that the COVID prevention and control situation remained "serious and complex".

☆ China tightens restrictions as rise in Covid cases reported
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Everyone in a district of 1.8 million people in China’s southern metropolis of Guangzhou was ordered to stay home Saturday to undergo virus testing and a major city in the southwest closed schools as another rise in Covid infections was reported. Guangzhou, 75 miles north of Hong Kong, has shut down schools and bus and subway service across much of the city as case numbers rise. In the southwest, the industrial city of Chongqing closed schools in its Beibei district, which has 840,000 people. Economists and public health experts say “zero Covid” might stay in place for as much as another year. They say millions of elderly people have to be vaccinated before the ruling party can consider lifting controls that keep most foreign visitors out of China.

☆ Oil jumps by 3% as China eases COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Ahmad Ghaddar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped by about 3% on Friday after health authorities in China, the top global crude importer, eased some of the country's heavy COVID curbs. Brent crude futures rose $2.86, or 3.1%, to $96.53 a barrel by 1145 GMT, extending a 1.1% rise in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $2.87, or 3.3%, to $89.34 a barrel, after climbing 0.8% in the previous session. A weaker U.S. dollar also supported oil prices as it makes the commodity cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. Still, the benchmark oil contracts were headed for weekly declines due to rising U.S. oil inventories, and lingering fears over capped fuel demand in China amid an uptick in daily COVID cases.

☆ Oil jumps by over 2% as China eases COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Jeslyn Lerh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped more than 2% on Friday after health authorities in China, the top global crude importer, eased some of the country's heavy COVID curbs. Brent crude futures rose $2.39, or 2.6%, to $96.06 a barrel by 0745 GMT, extending a 1.1% rise in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $2.24, or 2.6%, to $88.71 a barrel, after climbing 0.8% in the previous session. The move towards liberalising the COVID-zero policy will provide a springboard for oil markets, given that lockdowns hurt mobility and oil prices more than economic activity, he said. A weaker U.S. dollar also supported oil prices as it makes the commodity cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.

☆ China eases Covid rules, shortening quarantine for inbound travelers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING — China on Friday eased some of its draconian Covid rules, including shortening quarantines by two days for close contacts of infected people and for inbound travelers, and removing a penalty for airlines for bringing in too many cases. Under the new rules, centralized quarantine times for close contacts and travelers from abroad were shortened from seven days to five days. The requirement for three further days in home isolation after centralized quarantine remains. Inbound passengers are transported by bus to their quarantine hotels after arriving at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai in January. “This meeting further illustrates policymakers have started to focus more on optimizing the Covid control policies,” Goldman Sachs said in a note following Thursday’s Politburo Standing Committee meeting but before Friday’s announcement.

SINGAPORE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Oil prices picked up on Friday after a milder than expected U.S. inflation data reinforced hopes that the Federal Reserve will slow down rate hikes, boosting chances of a soft landing for the world's biggest economy. Prices were still set to show a decline for the week after COVID-19 cases in top oil importer China jumped, raising fears of weaker fuel demand. Brent crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.2%, to $93.88 a barrel at 0500 GMT, extending a 1.1% rise in the previous session. "Since traders are hyper-sensitive to lockdowns in the world's largest oil importer, this could temporarily hold the oil market's top-side ambition in check," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management. Reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; Editing by Bradley Perrett & Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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