Taiwan's Foxconn suspends operation of two factories in China due to Covid

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, Apple's main supplier of electronic components, has suspended operations of two factories in the eastern city of Kunshan due to COVID-19 restrictions, Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

In April, Taiwanese company Pegatron, which assembles iPhone smartphones for Apple, suspended the operation of two factories in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Kunshan amid an outbreak of COVID-19.

Since Wednesday, the activities of two factories were suspended as new coronavirus cases were detected at the plants, the newspaper said.

The shutdown of factories will put Apple's supply chains in mainland China in a complicated situation, the newspaper noted, adding that several other Apple suppliers in the country also halted production due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The coronavirus spike in China began in early March, and since then the case rate has grown rapidly, with over 20,000 cases registered daily over the last three days. Over the last two years, the country registered an average of 30-40 cases per day.