Since China eased its current health restrictions, the first in nearly three years, the country has faced a resurgence of Covid-19 cases. This epidemic outbreak is such that factories have to be shut down. This is notably the case of Tesla which, reveals the the wall street journal, suspended production at its Shanghai factory on Saturday, December 24, anticipating by one day a stoppage initially planned to last eight days. In question, according to the sources of the American daily: a wave of Covid contaminations which strikes its employees but also its suppliers. The factory, Tesla’s largest production site by volume, is scheduled to resume operations on January 2. Having built up sufficient inventory in recent months, the automaker should be able to meet the demand of its Chinese consumers. Even if the latter could be less numerous to present themselves in concession, fearing to be contaminated there.
Tesla is not the only California group to be affected by the Covid outbreak in China. Apple, which manufactures 90% of its iPhones on display in the country, is also very good. In October, the production site of one of its subcontractors, Foxconn, was disrupted by a wave of contamination; in November, the Apple firm had warned of a “significant” risk of disruption of iPhone deliveries for the holidays. It was a month before Beijing suddenly relaxed the health measures in force in the country. A decision at the origin of the current epidemic recovery and which increases the risk for Apple of being confronted with long-term supply difficulties. In addition to the factories of its subcontractors, it is also the warehouses, distributors and transport companies which fear seeing their workforce missing. Already, an Apple store in Beijing had to reduce its opening hours because all its employees were sick, reports the Financial Times.