Coronavirus-linked labor shortages threaten iPhone production: sources

Tech supply chains brace for severe impacts even after holiday ends on Feb. 10

20200204 Apple Store in China

Apple suppliers warn that virus-related delays to production could impact plans to ramp up iPhone output this year. © Getty Images

LAULY LI, CHENG TING-FANG and COCO LIU, Nikkei staff writers

TAIPEI/HONG KONG -- Key Apple suppliers are bracing for severe labor shortages due to the coronavirus outbreak as travel restrictions are expected to keep tens of thousands of workers stranded in their hometowns even after the extended Lunar New Year holiday ends on Feb. 10, multiple sources told the Nikkei Asian Review.

The sources say the shortages could hamper Apple's plans to ramp up iPhone production. The California tech giant previously ordered suppliers to make up to 80 million iPhones for the first half of 2020, as first reported by Nikkei.

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