The Chinese city of Chengdu has extended its COVID-19 lockdowns “indefinitely”, a situation set to wreak havoc on the production of Apple’s iPads and MacBooks.
Chengdu was originally scheduled to leave lockdown yesterday, but has now vowed to get its COVID cases down to zero before reopening.
Apple suppliers Foxconn and Jabil are both currently operating under “closed-loop” management, which forces workers to live on-site during the period.
Foxconn’s Chengdu facility is a major production factory for iPads and MacBooks laptops, while Jabil is a key electronics module supplier for MacBooks.
Up to half of Foxconn and Jabil’s manufacturing output in Chengdu facilities was impacted last month, due to electricity rationing.
Foxconn’s factories in tech hub Shenzhen have also been heavily hit by similar COVID lockdowns, which threatened to push back the launch of today’s iPhone 14 series.
BOE Technology, a leader in displays, is also currently operating in the closed loop.
“The new round of COVID lockdown measures could bring new disruptions to production planning,” insiders told Nikkei Asia.
“It’s really an eventful season and we are concerned whether the lockdown could be relieved soon.”
