Apple moving iPhone production out of China after protests

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Apple Inc. is moving iPhone production out of China in the wake of violent worker protests over COVID regulations at the world's largest iPhone factory.

The plant, called iPhone City, made headlines in recent weeks after workers protested over COVID-related concerns with security officers dressed in hazmat suits.

Apple wants to reduce its dependence on Taiwanese electronics companies like Foxconn, which owns the plant in Zhengzhou, in order to shift its production to other nations in Asia like India and Vietnam.

According to CNN earlier in the week, Foxconn may also be looking to shift its work outside mainland China.

It is not clear when Apple will be able to fully shift its dependence on the iPhone City facility that houses some 300,000 workers and at one point accounted for 85 percent of the Pro lineup of iPhones, according to the report.

The decision by Apple comes after years of manufacturing woes stemming from the coronaviruses, supply chain issues and strained geopolitical relations between Washington and Beijing that have lent to a more complicated business plan.

Alan Yeung, a former U.S. executive for Foxconn, told the Wall Street Journal that people didn't pay attention to concentration risks in the past. Things were predictable and free trade was the norm. We entered a new world. Apple may look to rely on a larger pool of assembled parts even from within China to circumvent supply-chain snafus, while the company looks to secure reliable manufacturers that can handle what Apple calls new product introduction, or NPI.

It's not easy to find all the pieces to build at the scale Apple needs, according to Kate Whitehead, a former Apple operations manager.