Foxconn Technology Group reported an 11% drop in November revenue from a year earlier after the company struggled with a Covid outbreak and worker unrest at Zhengzhou, the world’s biggest iPhone assembly site in China.
The Taiwan-based manufacturer said November revenue totaled 551.1 billion new Taiwan dollars ($14.7 billion), down more than 29% compared to October and over 11% lower when compared to November 2021.
In a statement, Foxconn said the fall was due to “production gradually entering off-peak seasonality and a portion of shipments being impacted by the epidemic in Zhengzhou.”
READ: Apple seeking way out of China after protest disruptions
According to media reports, in late October, the Zhengzhou factory was hit with an outbreak of Covid and Foxconn stretched to get it under control with measures such as testing and isolating infected workers.
The Wall Street Journal reported that in recent weeks, thousands, if not more, workers fled the site partly as they feared catching Covid.
Last month, employees clashed with security personnel at the Zhengzhou plant, while some workers took to social media to slam what appeared to be a delay in bonus payments.
Foxconn did not address the worker unrest in its November revenue update but said the Covid outbreak was under control. “At present, the overall epidemic situation has been brought under control with November being the most affected period by the epidemic,” the company said.
Separately, in response to strained supply lines in China, where Fortune outlined over 90% of Apple’s products are currently produced, Apple is turning to partners in India, Vietnam, and other Asian countries in a bid to reduce dependency on Chinese-based manufacturers, including Foxconn.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive