The chip crisis is also being resolved according to Foxconn, one of the largest (if not THE largest) electronics assembler in the world: Taiwanese giant Young Liu’s president said he expects much more stability in the supply chain for the second half of this year. The news comes a few weeks after the latest wave of COVID-19 in various regions of China, and the consequent lockdowns that have dealt another severe blow to an industry already on its knees for some time always due to the pandemic.
The lockdowns have also affected the factories of Foxconn itself to some extent, however they are in resolution. In the past few hours, the local government has assured that residents in low-risk areas will be able to return to work very soon, perhaps even today. As for Shanghai, the most populated city in China and a crucial commercial hub (also for Foxconn), the restrictive measures should at least be relaxed from tomorrow, June 1st.
It is interesting to note that China has been implementing a “whitelist” system in which the employees of the companies considered crucial could continue to work, with the necessary precautions, but unfortunately they were not enough, given that some of their suppliers were not included and therefore components and raw materials were lacking to continue producing at full capacity. The whitelist system should be definitively abolished starting tomorrow, in fact, so basically everyone will be able to go back to work.
The Chinese lockdowns have been much more aggressive than those we have experienced in Italy and in the West in general. The authorities have fenced off and delimited the residential areas affected by the measure, without particular attention to the right of the inhabitants to seek food, medical care and satisfy other basic needs; finally, after two months exactly, the barriers are being dismantled.
