Apple supplier Foxconn suffered a sharp fall in sales after strict Covid rules prompted a worker revolt at a Chinese factory.
Foxconn, which makes an estimated 70 per cent of iPhones, posted revenues of £14.8billion for November, down 29 per cent from October and 11 per cent year-on-year.
It is normally a key month for the Taiwan-based business as production is ramped up ahead of Christmas.
Factory reset: Chinese state riot police in hazmat suits attempt to quell a riot at Foxconn’s iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China
But manufacturing was disrupted after discontent at one of its biggest factories in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou.
A series of lockdowns in the city saw staff cut off from the outside world – prompting reports that some climbed over wire fences to flee while others protested over pay.
Yesterday the company said the situation had been ‘brought under control’. ‘In addition to reallocating production capacity of different factories, we have also started to recruit new employees, and are gradually moving towards the direction of restoring capacity to normal,’ a spokesman said.
‘The outlook for the fourth quarter is expected to be roughly in line with market consensus.’
A month ago, Apple warned that deliveries of its iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max would be lower than previously expected and customers would have to wait for longer as a result of Covid restrictions at the factory which were causing it to operate at ‘significantly reduced capacity’.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said the ‘quagmire’ over recent months in China would result in iPhone shortages for Apple of 10m-15m units ‘in this all-important holiday season’.
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