Foxconn, Apple's most important manufacturing partner, announced that it will resume normal production by the end of March, according to Bloomberg.
After the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia, more than half of Foxconn's seasonal employees recruited in China have returned to work.
Foxconn said on Tuesday that its plant currently has about 50% of its seasonal capacity, but this month it should increase. Most of the company's iPhones are assembled in mainland China.
However, Foxconn warns that it still cannot quantify the impact of labor shortages and national traffic restrictions on its resumption.
On Tuesday, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said at an investor conference: "Preventing the epidemic, restoring work and production are our top priorities." But the Apple iPhone OEM said the company could not predict the actual impact of the epidemic on annual results.
Young Liu and Foxconn's CFO Huang Chiu-lien are scheduled to brief investors and the media on the company's first quarter operations later on Tuesday.
After the outbreak, the company has sharply lowered its revenue forecast for 2020, which is hurting smartphone demand and weakening global economic growth.
The spread of the crisis disrupted Apple's carefully calibrated production chain: Foxconn was forced to delay the reopening of its giant factory in Zhengzhou, while imposing strict isolation measures on thousands of workers.
Foxconn stated in the documents submitted to the stock exchange: "As of today, the production resumption has reached 50% of seasonal required capacity. Based on the current schedule, we shall be able to reach full seasonal capacity by the end of March, "
"There are still plenty of uncertainties which we cannot quantify around the potential impact on the full year."
Foxconn is one of the world's manufacturers struggling with virus-related restrictions that have had a significant impact on the supply chain and even damaged demand.
This week, Hyundai announced its worst monthly sales in 10 years, after the company had highlighted problems with parts supply from China.
Foxconn's largest customer, Apple, lowered its forecast for the second quarter of this year due to travel restrictions and extended Chinese New Year holidays, and slower-than-expected expansion of its manufacturing base in China.
Young Liu said in an interview last month that Foxconn expects sales to increase by 1% to 3% this year. This was lower than the 3% to 5% forecast on January 22 before the global spread, and also behind the average forecast of analysts at the time. Foxconn expects to achieve a 4.9% backline growth in 2020.
But on Tuesday, Young Liu tried to appease investors and said there were no major problems with the supply chain, and Foxconn was helping suppliers resume work.
Foxconn said at the end of February that it had started cautiously restarting production at its main Chinese plant, but the epidemic would affect its revenue this year.
Foxconn's warning could cloud Apple's time to launch a new phone. Supply chain experts said that Foxconn tends to handle the launch of new iPhones because its capabilities are state-of-the-art, but considering travel restrictions, launch schedules could be threatened.
Former employees and supply chain experts said that Apple engineers usually fly to Asia in the first few months of the year to complete the production of new models. So far this year, Foxconn's stock price has fallen by more than 10%.
