Over 60 stock-listed Taiwan firms affected by Shenzhen lockdown

Taipei, March 15 (CNA) More than 60 stock-listed Taiwanese companies which have operations in Shenzhen have felt the pinch from a lockdown imposed by authorities in the city.

In filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday, these Taiwanese companies said they have had to halt production in Shenzhen after health authorities introduced the lockdown in the city Sunday night following reports of 66 new confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The lockdown is scheduled to continue until March 20.

One of the biggest Taiwanese manufacturers in Shenzhen, iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., said it suspended production in its Shenzhen complex because of the lockdown, but noted that other Hon Hai factories would fill some of the gap.

Hon Hai's operation in Shenzhen is focused mainly on the development and new product introduction of Apple's iPhones, while its manufacturing center in Zhengzhou in Henan province is responsible for mass-producing iPhones.

Analysts said shipments of the latest iPhone SE, unveiled by Apple last week, were not likely to be affected because it is already in the commercial production stage.

Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn globally, would not speculate on when its Shenzhen operations would start back up, saying only that it would wait for further notification from city authorities before resuming work.

Production at Hon Hai affiliate Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., which specializes in connector production, was also affected by the shutdown in the city.

Another company facing disruptions was Unimicron Technology Corp., the leading printed circuit board maker in Taiwan, which said its subsidiary Unimicron Technology (Shenzhen) Corp. has suspended production.

But because the subsidiary accounts for less than 3 percent of the group's total sales, the suspension was expected not to impose any material impact on the company's overall financial condition.

Asia Vital Components Co., which provides cooling solutions for computers and related devices, said its two subsidiaries in Shenzhen have also halted production.

With inventory outside China and factories in other cities able to make up for some of the production shortfall, the company felt the disruption would only have a minor impact as long as production can resume in one week.

Other Taiwanese companies that have suspended production in Shenzhen included touch panel maker GIS Holding Ltd., auto part supplier Silitech Technology Corp., metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) supplier Panjit International Inc., and speaker maker Merry Electronics Co.

They also included light-emitting diode (LED) producer Advanced Optoelectronic Technology Inc. gaming computer brand Micro-Star International Co., and LED drive IC supplier Macroblock, Inc.

Several major Taiwanese contract notebook computer makers, however, such as Quanta Computer Inc., Compal Electronics Inc., Wistron Corp., Invetec Corp. and Pegatron Corp., have avoided the impact of the lockdown because their manufacturing is largely done in central China or other inland Chinese cities.

(By Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang)

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