Even as China claims that the coronavirus pandemic is more or less under control, its manufacturing sector has a long road to recovery ahead of it. Companies are bracing for delays in production schedules as most of the firms remain closed, even after an extended Lunar New Year holiday. Several companies have partially opened some of their facilities in China, whereas others are waiting to resume operations after weeks of hold-up. Here's how the companies have suffered due to the deadly Coronavirus epidemic.
Foxconn
Foxconn is the biggest assembler of iPhones in the world. It also develops smartphones for Huawei, as well as Kindle e-book readers and Echo smart speakers for Amazon. The company is China's largest private employer, which supplies parts to HP, Dell and other major electronics brands. Foxconn had shut down all its operations in China at the beginning of February due to the Coronavirus scare.
Tesla
Tesla's ambitious Giga Shanghai facility had partially resumed its production on February 10, 2020, with limited workforce and assistance from government authorities. The firm offered 40 shuttle buses to help workers reach the factory. The first car from Tesla Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai was rolled out on December 30, 2019. The factory was expected to maintain a production rate of 3,000 units per week and churn out 150,000 vehicles per year.
Apple
Apple is feeling the heat due to its dependence on Chinese manufacturing sector. In its investor update on February 17, 2020, the Cupertino tech giant said that it did not expect to meet the revenue guidance for the March quarter. The reasons stated include temporary suspension of iPhone supplies worldwide due to coronavirus outbreak, adversely affecting its revenue and the reduced demand for Apple products in China. The company reported 18 per cent of its revenue in March quarter last year from Greater China, and 15 per cent in quarter ended December 31, 2019.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen has opened only one out of its 15 assembly plants in China, as on February 13, 2020. The company has said that the rest would be opened gradually. As per Standard & Poor's, the German automobile major produces and sells over 40 per cent of its cars in the Chinese market.
Disney
Disney announced the closure of two of its theme parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. The operations for Disneyland in Hong Kong was halted on January 26 2020 and Shanghai Disney Resort on January 25, 2020. The company lost its substantial revenue due to the rise of China virus crisis in the middle of tourist season. The closure of Shanghai resort is expected to result in the reduction of operational income by $135 million in Q2 FY21, while Disneyland in Hong Kong is said to face a lower income by $40 million.
Airbus
The global aeronautics major, Airbus announced the revival of its operation tasks at the Tianjin Final Assembly Line. "Airbus is constantly evaluating the situation and monitoring any potential knock-on effects to production and deliveries and will try to mitigate via alternative plans where necessary," the company stated.
Honda
The Japanese auto major, Honda, has revealed its plan to restart the production at Wuhan facility on February 24, after a delay of one week from its original plan. Honda has three plants in Wuhan, with a capacity to produce 6 lakh units per year.
Toyota
Toyota resumed its operations in China on February 17, 2020, with the revival of its production tasks at Guangzhou and Changchun facilities. The Tianjin facility had resumed its production on Tuesday.
Singapore Airlines
As coronavirus turns into a pandemic, Singapore Airlines has announced the cancellation of flights across its network due to weak demand. The airline and its regional carrier SilkAir will reduce flights to cities like London, New York, Tokyo, Sydney and Johannesburg from March to May. The company said that it would cancel 21 flights on the Singapore-London route in May alone. Moreover, Singapore Airlines this month reduced flights to mainland China by suspending or cancelling routes to Chinese cities. The airline said it would fly directly to San Francisco without a stop in Hong Kong.