It seems it is impossible to keep the Apple contract company in India Foxconn away from the headlines. This morning it emerged that it has begun test production of iPhone 13 and the regular manufacture would happen from around February 2022.
This afternoon, it was announced that the plant, whose workers are on a stir due to a food poisoning incident, would be shut for the week to cool down the simmering tempers.
Official sources from the Tamil Nadu government side have said that the plant would be closed for the next five days. The same has been confirmed by the Superintendent of Police in Kancheepuram under whose jurisdiction the plant falls.
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An uneasy calm prevails now
From what can be gathered from the local sources, the Foxconn management was apparently prevailed upon by the authorities to shutter the plant down for the next five days so that the workers, who are on the warpath, can be pacified.
Around 250 of workers at the plant had taken ill after consuming food at the company provided hostel. Of these, 159 had been hospitalised, while the others were treated as outpatients at different hospitals.
The condition of eight of these workers were stated to be serious, and the workers who had hit the road in protest grew restive and the situation threatened to get out of hand last Saturday. Police had to use mild force and detain close to 100 workers and local activists who had joined hands with the agitators.
Social media platforms were used to float unseemly rumours, and the authorities also arrested a couple of political hands for spreading canards.
There is now a sense of uneasy quiet now, said a local worker.
Foxconn employs anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 workers in the unit. The numbers are fluid because many are employed as temporary hands depending on work schedule. Most of the workers are not directly employed by the company, and they are in the rolls of sub-contracting company or agents.
What happens to iPhone 13 plans?
Now, the the most important question is will the closure of the plant affect the production schedule of Apple devices? Quite obviously, it will be hit, but how much of it can be made up is something that only an official announcement can confirm.
But industry sources say that the plant being closed for five days may not have a huge impact. But is there a guarantee that the unit will reopen on Monday? Again, there is no official word one way or the other.
When another Apple contract company Wistron faced trouble last year, initially it was said that the plant would resume operations quickly. But it took many more months to get back on stream, and much time and resources were lost in the interregnum.
Something of that sort is the worst-case scenario for Foxconn, which must be betting big on the plans for iPhone 13. It already manufactures iPhone 12 and 11. Aside, Foxconn plant also does work for Xiaomi India.
The management is said to be working with the authorities to stem the rising tide of anger. "But the issue has turned slightly political at the ground level, and that is a worry as the involvement of politicos would drag the controversy for long," said a local source.
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