BEIJING, April 20 (TMTPOST) — Half of the 200 suppliers of Apple have manufacturing plants in Shanghai and its neighboring areas, which means Apple’s supply chain is heavily impacted by the resurging Covid-19 pandemic in China, especially in Shanghai, a news report from Nikkei Asian Review shows.
The resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic in Shanghai has pressured local authorities to adopt a series of pandemic control and prevention measures that restrict production and other economic activities since late March.
Nikkei Asian Review reported that over 70 companies in Jiangsu Province are suppliers of Apple. Most of the manufacturing plants are located in Kunshan and Suzhou near Shanghai. Around 30 companies have factories in Shanghai
The suppliers mentioned above include iPhone’s second-largest assembler Pegatron Corporation and iPad assembler Compal Electronics. There are also suppliers of displays, PCB, thermal components, batteries and audio components, such as audio component provider AAC Technologies, electronic component supplier Panasonic and panel supplier JDI. These companies all have factories in Suzhou, which is being affected by the pandemic control measures. In Shanghai, there are Pegatron and Mac device assembler Quanta Group. In Kunshan, there are also suppliers, such as Nan Ya Plastics and Auras, besides Pegatron, Compal Electronics and Unimicron.
Many suppliers worry that it might take several months for their plants in Shanghai and neighboring areas to resume normal operations given the situation.
Peng Shuanglang, the board chair of AU Optronics, told Nikkei Asian Review that the impact of the resurging pandemic on the company’s operation is more severe than that of the energy restriction policy last year because it affects the entire supply chain. “The disruption is not affecting particular companies or industries but the global supply chain,” Peng said. “The supply chain might be broken in the worst-case scenario.”
