by Greg Gao

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the electronics manufacturing giant, has resumed normal productions in its Shenzhen plants as the city’s COVID-19 outbreaks ease, the company announced on March 21. 

Hon Hai, the primary iPhone assembler and parts supplier to Apple and others, suspended the operations following the coronavirus outbreak in locked-down Shenzhen last week. Its industrial parks in Shenzhen’s Longhua and Guanlan were shut down in compliance with the local government’s epidemic prevention measures on March 14. The shutdown came just days after Apple launched its latest slate of new products, including a new affordable iPhone SE.

According to industry insiders, Hon Hai’s factories in Shenzhen belong to its integrated Digital Product Business Group (iDPBG), mainly focused on the new product introduction of Apple’s iPhone. While Hai Group's plant in Zhengzhou, in east-central China's Henan province, is an important base for mass production of iPhone. Currently, the iPhone SE 3 has entered the mass production stage, so the temporary shutdown of its Shenzhen factories should not have much impact on the mass production and shipment of the new iPhone SE.