Apple manufacturing partner Pegatron denies media reports that claimed shipments to and from its factory sites in China were being held for scrutiny by Chinese customs officials in the wake of a company executive’s meeting with U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi, reports DigiTimes.
The iPhone assembler said production at all its China sites and shipments remain normal. The reports of delayed shipments came after Pegatron vice chairman Jason Cheng met with Pelosi during a lunch hosted by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday.
This isn’t the first issues Pegatron has had in China. The country’s lockdowns to control the spread of COVID-19 have inspired the company “emphasize” its expansion in other countries, according to a report from Reuters.
In April, the Taiwan-based company suspended operations at its Shanghai and Kunshan plants in China due to strict COVID-19 protocols, impacting production and deliveries. China has since lifted those restrictions, but the company is still facing labour shortages, exacerbated by COVID restrictions in China. This means Pegatron will ”emphasize” its expansion plans elsewhere, President Liao Syh-jang told an annual shareholder meeting in Taipei.
In May 2019, the company signed a letter of intent stating it intends to invest 10-15 trillion rupiah (approximately US$695 million to $1 billion) in an Indonesian factory to assemble “chips for Apple smartphones,” In November 2020, the board of Pegatron, Apple’s second largest contract manufacturer, approved an initial investment of approximately US $150 million (Rs 1100 crore) for building manufacturing facilities in India. Last year the company leased half a million square feet of space near Chennai, on the Bay of Bengal in eastern India.
