After Samsung and LG, other smartphone manufacturers including Chinese players and Apple have also suspended the production and temporarily shut their factories to curb the spread of coronavirus. The manufacturing units will remain shut until further notice from the Centre. The development comes at a time when the country is under complete lockdown for 21 days. The government has also imposed Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code for all kinds of public gatherings barring the grouping of four or more people during the lockdown.
As a result of the lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, manufacturing facilities are not allowed to function. Apple, which manufactures ‘budget’ iPhone and the iPhone XR through Foxconn’s Chennai plant is likely to remain shut until April 14. Another iPhone-maker, Wistron Corp., has also suspended operations during the lockdown. Further, plants that are located in Greater Noida have also suspended their operations. These included facilities of Chinese players like Oppo, Vivo, and Realme.
‘Operations in our Greater Noida factory have been suspended as per the directive from the government. Additionally, all Oppo India employees have been advised to work from home until further notice,’ an Oppo spokesperson was quoted as saying. Vivo's India has also asked its employees to work from home. ‘Restriction on both international and domestic travel, thermal screening of all individuals at Vivo premises, as well as staggered work from home for teams across functions have been implemented,’ Vivo India added.
Realme, which has already announced that it will absorb GST hike and won't increase Narzo series price due for launch on March 26, has also suspended all its manufacturing activities. ‘Realme India has suspended production of its manufacturing operations in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh since Saturday. While this will temporarily affect our inventory and supply in the market for some time, the safety of our workforce is of paramount importance to us,’ the company said in a statement.
Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, said that its corporate offices, warehouses, service centres, Mi Home facilities, and factories will abide by the lockdown orders. Nokia has also announced that it is shutting its services for the time being. ‘In light of administration directives around the Covid-19 outbreak, we are unable to fulfil any orders and the service is suspended. It will be our effort to resume at the earliest, we regret the inconvenience. Stay safe in the meantime,’ the company said.
Lenovo-owned Motorola is also closing down its plants in Tamil Nadu. 'Safety of our employees and their families is of the utmost importance to us, and we are 100% compliant with all relevant guidelines issued by the various state governments. We have stopped operations at our manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, starting March 23rd. Further, all employees across our various offices in India have been advised to exercise a mandatory ‘Work From Home’ policy till 31st March. Along with this, we have issued strict guidelines and advisory for all precautions to be taken by them and their respective families,' said Prashanth Mani, Managing Director, Motorola India.
