Violent protests erupt at Covid-hit iPhone factory in China

Videos of protests have been circulating online

There are not so many soldiers willing to give their lives for Apple

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max production affected

Videos of protests have been circulating online

Protests have erupted at the world's biggest iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, according to footage circulated widely online that showed hundreds of people in hazmat suits clashing with riot police.

Photo: Twitter @GundamNorthrop

Smashing surveillance cameras

Footage shared on a livestreaming site showed workers smashing surveillance cameras and windows with chairs and sticks.

Quarantined without food

"They changed the contract so that we could not get the subsidy as they had promised. They quarantine us but don't provide food," said one Foxconn worker during his live stream.

Photo: Twitter @violazhouyi

Clashes with police

Other livestreamed videos also showed crowds of armed police at the site and injured people who claimed they were beaten by police.

Photo: Twitter @violazhouyi

The world's largest iPhone factory

The Foxconn factory, located in Zhengzhou, is the most important for Apple in the manufacturing of its best-selling device: the iPhone.

500,000 iPhone units per day

70% of all iPhones in the world are produced in this Chinese factory, which means around 500,000 units a day.

More than 200,000 employees

To achieve a production of such magnitude, the Foxconn factory has more than 200,000 employees, according to the BBC.

Covid outbreak

Since October, thousands of employees at this factory were affected by a Covid outbreak that seriously jeopardized Christmas iPhone production, the most important batch of the year.

Strict anti-Covid measures

The outbreak has been aggravated by the strict Chinese health policies regarding Covid.

“Zero Covid” policy

From isolation to border controls, restrictions in mobility and massive PCR tests; the Chinese authorities call it the "Zero Covid” policy.

Closed circuit

The Foxconn factory was closed while some workers were isolated inside, with the objective of allowing them to continue with production. This is known as 'Closed Circuit'.

Foxconn ‘burn-out’

This led many employees to try to escape, jumping over the factory fences in shocking videos that were also circulated on social media.

Lack of workers

Dystopian and authoritarian measures aside, the South China Morning Post estimates that the factory requires 100,000 workers to maintain production, something that seems impossible.

Photo: Unsplash - James Yarema

Recruitment of retired soldiers

The Chinese government summoned retired soldiers of the People's Liberation Army to go work at the factory.

There are not so many soldiers willing to give their lives for Apple

But didn’t work out how the authorities expected. The aforementioned media says just a few thousand soldiers responded to the call, a figure far from the 100,000 employees needed.

Mobilizing officials

However, some nearby towns said they would mobilize officials to help in the coming weeks; something that might now be put off because of the protests.

iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max production affected

Furthermore, Apple has already warned, in a statement, that the production of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will be affected in the coming weeks.

Photo: Unsplash - Chris Nagahama

An almost impossible Christmas gift

In fact, getting one of these two models at Christmas is going to be nearly impossible.

Photo: Unsplash - Victor Serban

Will there be a resale?

Back in September 2022, the deliveries of the iPhone 14 Pro Max took 41 days, and everything indicates that this Christmas those deadlines are going to be stretched even more.

Photo: Unsplash - Laurenz Heymann

Parallel resale market

However, this may lead to a parallel resale market that can make the product prices skyrocket.