9 ms·

I guess this is severe enough that they're obligated to let investors know.

by xuki 4y ago

echelon 4y ago
It is. Workers are fleeing and returning home. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/31/fearing-covid-workers-flee-from-foxconns-vast-chinese-iphone-plant.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/31/fearing-covid-workers-flee-f... These sources include some dramatic video: https://nypost.com/2022/10/31/chinese-workers-jump-fence-to-escape-apple-iphone-factory-lockdown/ https://nypost.com/2022/10/31/chinese-workers-jump-fence-to-... https://hongkongfp.com/2022/11/05/we-were-scared-workers-at-foxconn-iphone-factory-in-china-recount-covid-chaos/ https://hongkongfp.com/2022/11/05/we-were-scared-workers-at-...
- sva_ 4y ago
  Direct link to the video https://nitter.net/StephenMcDonell/status/1586633671150211072 https://nitter.net/StephenMcDonell/status/158663367115021107... It looks very disturbing to see them hauling their luggage (why do they have luggage at their place of employment?) out of something that I can only interpret to look like a prison.
  - dkjaudyeqooe 4y ago
    > why do they have luggage at their place of employment? Because it's also their place of residence.
  - bretpiatt 4y ago
    It is known as Foxconn City where workers all live on campus, good article from 2017 for more context https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-l...
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - FpUser 4y ago
    Ever heard of company towns?
    - SkyMarshal 4y ago
      Yes, but not ones where you're fenced in with barbed wire and can't leave. I thought the concept of company towns was more financial and economic slavery, eg your company gives you a mortgage to a buy a house from the company, all near work so you can work long hours, and you're essentially an indentured servant. But this is actual slavery, these people are literally locked in and can't leave except by crawling over barbed wire fences.
      - xuki 4y ago
        They can’t leave because of COVID restrictions not because of Apple.
        SkyMarshal 4y ago
        Was that barbed wire fence constructed recently just for COVID lockdowns, or has it been there the whole time?
        cjbgkagh 4y ago
        The story I heard was that it was to stop people coming in who wanted to work there. From the video I saw the barbed wire was tilted outwards.
      - vbezhenar 4y ago
        I live in a multi-apartment house. When COVID started, one of tenants was found COVID-positive. Our entire house was locked by authorities for two weeks. It was forbidden to leave it, there was car with policeman and barricades. The only way to get food was to order it with online delivery. It was so crazy. In other cities authorities literally welded doors and cut small windows: https://newtimes.kz/storage/news/news/2020/04/05/5e8973f787be4313162591.jpg https://newtimes.kz/storage/news/news/2020/04/05/5e8973f787b... Thankfully this hysteria did not last long.
  - faangiq 4y ago
  - postingawayonhn 4y ago
    Large Chinese factories are usually staffed by migrant workers who are housed in company owned dorms.
    - techdragon 4y ago
      Important note for anyone that doesn't already know, migrant in this context refers to internal migration from far off home towns as opposed to "immigrant" in the context of temporary farm labour migrant workers migrating in from another country where such work forms part of their visa arrangements (Australia's migrant worker visas, pick some fruit, do some backpacking) or is part of seasonal regional migration over the border such as parts of the USA where Mexican workers legally migrate on short temporary work visas during farm's harvest seasons.
- HeavenFox 4y ago
  Story circulating on Chinese Internet: - Foxconn workers have to walk on highways for hundreds of miles with their luggage to go back home - Villagers nearby set up free food and water distribution stalls en route - Some scoundrels steal all the food and water - The thief are forcibly sent to quarantine because they are now classified as close contacts to COVID positives
  - ytch 4y ago
    > - Foxconn workers have to walk on highways for hundreds of miles with their luggage to go back home For anyone wondering why: It it because they are labeled as COVID close contact by health code system, so they cannot take public transport system even they have enough money.
    - dudeinjapan 4y ago
      This sounds vaguely like Gattaca.
      - kanbara 4y ago
        how is protecting others from a still-deadly pandemic anything remotely like genetic-engineering of Uebermensch and social stratification? people aren't shunned for life because they got coronavirus, they are quarantined until they test negative again
        zarzavat 4y ago
        astrange 4y ago
        It’s mostly about protecting from a pandemic. China doesn’t have enough completed vaccinations for them to let it rip even if they wanted to, nor was their vaccine as good as ours. And of course, just because you think long covid isn’t worth the risk doesn’t mean they agree.
- cad1ha9ch 4y ago
- danskeren 4y ago
  The YouTube channel 'China Insights' provides a great breakdown as well: - Zhengzhou Foxconn Factory: 10,000+ workers flee covid lockdown/Apple iPhone Production Plunges (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9DXebls8Bc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9DXebls8Bc) - Zhengzhou Foxconn workers keep on fleeing and now China locks down area around 'iPhone city' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKBAeie5wY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKBAeie5wY)
  - chillage 4y ago
    That's an interesting channel, though I've personally found it problematic. Nearly all its videos are very strongly negative on China. That makes me wonder do they have an agenda and are they twisting the truth in some cases? Would be great to get any insight on this.
    - shagie 4y ago
      Do they have an agenda? Absolutely. Are they twisting the truth? It is difficult to say without corroborated information that poses an alternate read of the facts. Is it cherry picking information? Almost certainly. If you trust the translation in the voice overs or subtitles and the sources of the videos themselves, there is still a lot of material there. Spotlight on China is another that has news about China's economics / industry / politics for outside of China consumption that doesn't appear to be state media.
- xt00 4y ago
  This is super bad news for Apple — Zengzhou having a massive lockdown will scare away workers for a while unless they promise to pay big jumps in salary to come back I would imagine.. Apple shifting tons of production to India is super bad news for China and this is definitely going to accelerate it. Zhengzhou is Uber important to apple’s iPhone production.. so my guess is that Foxconn production is essentially zero right now and will be for a month before lines get back up to speed.. (lockdown is supposed to be 7 days) but these production lines are massive, so could impact production for an extended period if workers are nervous to come back. Likely could cost Apple tens of billions in revenue..
  - alwillis 4y ago
    Likely could cost Apple tens of billions in revenue.. If it were that bad, Apple would have said something more in their press release. If things get worse, there will be another press release.
Isamu 4y ago
Apple is known for having some of the lowest inventory in their “just in time” supply chains. Major Disruptions like this have an immediate impact.
- xuki 4y ago
  Interestingly, this does not affect iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Either the production lines for them are not affected (yet) or Apple have plenty of inventory for the holiday season.
  - DennisAleynikov 4y ago
    It just seems like nobody wants the 14 or 14 Plus, there hasn't been any demand and apples been cutting back production there
    - dmix 4y ago
      Even a less popular iPhone product would still easily be a massive production operation compared to most other electronic hardware being made. Supply might be good for now but there's consequences in the near term.
    - batiudrami 4y ago
      When you can get an iPhone 13 Pro for almost the same price but it is objectively better (or alternatively get an iPhone 13 on clearance, which is almost the same device) it isn’t hard to see why the regular 14 isn’t selling amongst people who are upgrading early in the release cycle and are therefore more likely to be enthusiasts.
      - arcticbull 4y ago
        In what way is the 13 Pro better? Curious.
        batiudrami 4y ago

I guess this is severe enough that they're obligated to let investors know.

by xuki 4y ago

I guess this is severe enough that they're obligated to let investors know.

It is. Workers are fleeing and returning home. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/31/fearing-covid-workers-flee-from-foxconns-vast-chinese-iphone-plant.html https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/31/fearing-covid-workers-flee-f... These sources include some dramatic video: https://nypost.com/2022/10/31/chinese-workers-jump-fence-to-escape-apple-iphone-factory-lockdown/ https://nypost.com/2022/10/31/chinese-workers-jump-fence-to-... https://hongkongfp.com/2022/11/05/we-were-scared-workers-at-foxconn-iphone-factory-in-china-recount-covid-chaos/ https://hongkongfp.com/2022/11/05/we-were-scared-workers-at-...

sva_ 4y ago
Direct link to the video https://nitter.net/StephenMcDonell/status/1586633671150211072 https://nitter.net/StephenMcDonell/status/158663367115021107... It looks very disturbing to see them hauling their luggage (why do they have luggage at their place of employment?) out of something that I can only interpret to look like a prison.
- dkjaudyeqooe 4y ago
  > why do they have luggage at their place of employment? Because it's also their place of residence.
- bretpiatt 4y ago
  It is known as Foxconn City where workers all live on campus, good article from 2017 for more context https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-life-death-forbidden-city-longhua-suicide-apple-iphone-brian-merchant-one-device-extract https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jun/18/foxconn-l...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- FpUser 4y ago
  Ever heard of company towns?
  - SkyMarshal 4y ago
    Yes, but not ones where you're fenced in with barbed wire and can't leave. I thought the concept of company towns was more financial and economic slavery, eg your company gives you a mortgage to a buy a house from the company, all near work so you can work long hours, and you're essentially an indentured servant. But this is actual slavery, these people are literally locked in and can't leave except by crawling over barbed wire fences.
    - xuki 4y ago
      They can’t leave because of COVID restrictions not because of Apple.
      - SkyMarshal 4y ago
        Was that barbed wire fence constructed recently just for COVID lockdowns, or has it been there the whole time?
        cjbgkagh 4y ago
        The story I heard was that it was to stop people coming in who wanted to work there. From the video I saw the barbed wire was tilted outwards.
    - vbezhenar 4y ago
      I live in a multi-apartment house. When COVID started, one of tenants was found COVID-positive. Our entire house was locked by authorities for two weeks. It was forbidden to leave it, there was car with policeman and barricades. The only way to get food was to order it with online delivery. It was so crazy. In other cities authorities literally welded doors and cut small windows: https://newtimes.kz/storage/news/news/2020/04/05/5e8973f787be4313162591.jpg https://newtimes.kz/storage/news/news/2020/04/05/5e8973f787b... Thankfully this hysteria did not last long.
- faangiq 4y ago
- postingawayonhn 4y ago
  Large Chinese factories are usually staffed by migrant workers who are housed in company owned dorms.
  - techdragon 4y ago
    Important note for anyone that doesn't already know, migrant in this context refers to internal migration from far off home towns as opposed to "immigrant" in the context of temporary farm labour migrant workers migrating in from another country where such work forms part of their visa arrangements (Australia's migrant worker visas, pick some fruit, do some backpacking) or is part of seasonal regional migration over the border such as parts of the USA where Mexican workers legally migrate on short temporary work visas during farm's harvest seasons.
HeavenFox 4y ago
Story circulating on Chinese Internet: - Foxconn workers have to walk on highways for hundreds of miles with their luggage to go back home - Villagers nearby set up free food and water distribution stalls en route - Some scoundrels steal all the food and water - The thief are forcibly sent to quarantine because they are now classified as close contacts to COVID positives
- ytch 4y ago
  > - Foxconn workers have to walk on highways for hundreds of miles with their luggage to go back home For anyone wondering why: It it because they are labeled as COVID close contact by health code system, so they cannot take public transport system even they have enough money.
  - dudeinjapan 4y ago
    This sounds vaguely like Gattaca.
    - kanbara 4y ago
      how is protecting others from a still-deadly pandemic anything remotely like genetic-engineering of Uebermensch and social stratification? people aren't shunned for life because they got coronavirus, they are quarantined until they test negative again
      - zarzavat 4y ago
        astrange 4y ago
        It’s mostly about protecting from a pandemic. China doesn’t have enough completed vaccinations for them to let it rip even if they wanted to, nor was their vaccine as good as ours. And of course, just because you think long covid isn’t worth the risk doesn’t mean they agree.
cad1ha9ch 4y ago
danskeren 4y ago
The YouTube channel 'China Insights' provides a great breakdown as well: - Zhengzhou Foxconn Factory: 10,000+ workers flee covid lockdown/Apple iPhone Production Plunges (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9DXebls8Bc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9DXebls8Bc) - Zhengzhou Foxconn workers keep on fleeing and now China locks down area around 'iPhone city' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKBAeie5wY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKBAeie5wY)
- chillage 4y ago
  That's an interesting channel, though I've personally found it problematic. Nearly all its videos are very strongly negative on China. That makes me wonder do they have an agenda and are they twisting the truth in some cases? Would be great to get any insight on this.
  - shagie 4y ago
    Do they have an agenda? Absolutely. Are they twisting the truth? It is difficult to say without corroborated information that poses an alternate read of the facts. Is it cherry picking information? Almost certainly. If you trust the translation in the voice overs or subtitles and the sources of the videos themselves, there is still a lot of material there. Spotlight on China is another that has news about China's economics / industry / politics for outside of China consumption that doesn't appear to be state media.
xt00 4y ago
This is super bad news for Apple — Zengzhou having a massive lockdown will scare away workers for a while unless they promise to pay big jumps in salary to come back I would imagine.. Apple shifting tons of production to India is super bad news for China and this is definitely going to accelerate it. Zhengzhou is Uber important to apple’s iPhone production.. so my guess is that Foxconn production is essentially zero right now and will be for a month before lines get back up to speed.. (lockdown is supposed to be 7 days) but these production lines are massive, so could impact production for an extended period if workers are nervous to come back. Likely could cost Apple tens of billions in revenue..
- alwillis 4y ago
  Likely could cost Apple tens of billions in revenue.. If it were that bad, Apple would have said something more in their press release. If things get worse, there will be another press release.

Isamu 4y ago

Apple is known for having some of the lowest inventory in their “just in time” supply chains. Major Disruptions like this have an immediate impact.

xuki 4y ago
Interestingly, this does not affect iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus. Either the production lines for them are not affected (yet) or Apple have plenty of inventory for the holiday season.
- DennisAleynikov 4y ago
  It just seems like nobody wants the 14 or 14 Plus, there hasn't been any demand and apples been cutting back production there
  - dmix 4y ago
    Even a less popular iPhone product would still easily be a massive production operation compared to most other electronic hardware being made. Supply might be good for now but there's consequences in the near term.
  - batiudrami 4y ago
    When you can get an iPhone 13 Pro for almost the same price but it is objectively better (or alternatively get an iPhone 13 on clearance, which is almost the same device) it isn’t hard to see why the regular 14 isn’t selling amongst people who are upgrading early in the release cycle and are therefore more likely to be enthusiasts.
    - arcticbull 4y ago
      In what way is the 13 Pro better? Curious.
      - batiudrami 4y ago