Foxconn’s November Revenue Fell 11% After Covid Outbreak at iPhone Factory

Since October, Foxconn has been scrambling to contain a Covid outbreak at its Zhengzhou site in China, a sprawling facility where it employs more than 200,000 workers. The site has continued to operate under a system in which workers stay on-site and contact with the outside world is limited to a minimum.

In recent weeks, thousands, if not more, workers fled the site partly as they feared catching Covid. In early November,

Apple Inc.

AAPL -0.34%

said shipments of its high-end iPhone models would be lower than expected because of the disruptions—the Zhengzhou site at one point made about 85% of the Pro lineup of iPhones, according to market-research firm Counterpoint Research.

Then in late November, violent protests broke out at the factory. Both Foxconn and some workers said the violence was related to pay concerns.

On Monday, Foxconn said in its monthly revenue report that the epidemic situation is under control. “We are making every effort to protect the rights and interests of employees, so that current employees and new hires receive the best care,” it said.

Foxconn, formally known as

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.,

also said it is gradually moving toward “the direction of restoring production capacity to normal.” It is recruiting new employees and reallocating production capacity among factories, it added.

In recent weeks, Apple has told suppliers to more actively plan on increasing production outside China, particularly India and Vietnam, and is looking to reduce dependence on Foxconn and other Taiwanese assemblers, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

—Yoko Kubota contributed to this article.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at [email protected]