Foxconn Denies Factory Manufacturing Reports

Foxconn has denied media reports that its factories in China have are fully operational, but remains tight lipped about their status.

The Taiwanese manufacturer said on Thursday that recent Reuters reports on its plant resumption plans in China were not factual.

However the world’s largest contract electronics maker, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, did elaborate on the production status of the Chinese factories, as this is commercially sensitive.

Chinese factories

Foxconn of course is a supplier to tech giant Apple and others. It, along with other businesses in China, have been badly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak and have subsequently delayed resuming output.

The outbreak has seen the cancellation of the Mobile World Congress 2020 show, which was scheduled for later this month.

“Recently, Reuters reports on the group’s overall resumption schedule for the mainland China plants are not factual, and Hon Hai hereby clarifies it,” Foxconn was quoted by Reuters as saying in the statement.

“In the past, the aforementioned media’s reports related to the group’s mainland China plants resumption are mostly not factual,” it said, adding that the reports have caused “misunderstandings and difficulties for employees, investors and the general public.”

When asked to clarify which aspects of the reports Foxconn was referring to, company spokesman Jimmy Huang told Reuters by telephone on Thursday that all elaborations were made in the statement to the stock exchange.

Reuters had reported on Monday that Foxconn got the green light to reopen two major plants in China closed due to the coronavirus, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Foxconn aims to resume production even though only about 10 percent of the workforce had returned as of Monday, the person reportedly said.

Smartphone shortage?

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Foxconn hopes to resume half of its production in China by month-end, quoting a person who has direct knowledge of internal targets.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook admitted during a recent earnings call that Apple’s current quarter will be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, which is impacting production.

Apple has closed all 42 stores in China because of the outbreak.

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