It is no longer news that the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in China interrupted the vast majority of activities carried out in the country, including the production of technological devices in the factories there.
With the gradual return of some services, however, some companies are already able to visualize a possible date to resume their activities completely, among them the largest manufacturer of iPhones, the Foxconn.
According to a new report by Bloomberg, Foxconn expects its factories in China to function normally until the end of this month, after correcting the lack of labor created by the outbreak of the disease.
Despite this, the company is still unable to determine how the disruption in activities will recently affect production for the rest of the year:
Currently, the resumption of production has reached 50% of the necessary seasonal capacity.
Based on the current schedule, we will be able to reach full seasonal capacity by the end of March.
However, there are still many uncertainties that we cannot quantify around the potential impact for the entire year.
By «seasonal required capacity» Foxconn refers to the fact that the first quarter of each year is typically «slower» than in other periods.
As we know, this tends to increase at the beginning of the second half and continues at this pace until the end of the year to meet the demand for the holiday season.
This year, however, could be atypical: as we reported, Apple would be about to launch a new entry-level iPhone (the “iPhone 9” or “iPhone SE 2”), probably at an event that could be held later this month.
According to rumors, however, the production of this device should have started last February, which may not have happened due to the outbreak of the virus in China.
Therefore, the hopes are that Apple will keep the schedule of the novelty (s), but postpone the launch date of the product or start sales with a low stock at first, increasing them gradually in the coming months.
Which will be? It remains for us to wait to know.
