Old iPhone production is at risk of shortages because Foxconn and Wistron’s factories in India are forced to close.

Foxconn and Wistron have been forced to shut down several factories in India to comply with India’s government blockade of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This move will probably greatly affect the output of some older iPhone models in the near future.

According to Bloomberg, Foxconn has started to shut down some production lines until April 14. The company said it will resume production soon after the latest notice from the Indian government.

A representative of outsourcing firm Wistron also said that the company is willing to obey India’s orders and declined to comment on the products affected.

Foxconn and Wistron are currently the leading manufacturing and processing partners for major brands such as Apple. Although no companies have disclosed affected products, Foxconn and Wistron’s factories in India are involved in the production of older iPhone models such as iPhone 6s, iPhone 7 or iPhone SE or manufacturing The device is aimed at the Indian domestic market.

On Wednesday, Wistron Chairman Simon Lin said that the temporary closure of factories in India and Malaysia is only in the short term. Because Wistron can take initiative in human resources and production activities immediately after the blockade order is lifted.

However, a temporary 21-day blockade of India could cause damage to many giant technology companies, such as Apple. An Apple representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although Apple only has a small share in the Indian smartphone market because of the high price and import tax of up to 20%, the majority cannot access iPhone. But Apple sees India as a long-term potential market.

Apple currently has an office with thousands of employees in Hyderabad, Telangana state, southern India. This office specializes in developing data for Apple Maps application in a country of billions of people. And of course this office is also seriously affected by the Indian government ban.

Before Foxconn and Wistron, Samsung, Vivo and many other OEMs also shut down factories in India for 21 days under a government ban. This also means that all electronics retail stores will be closed during this time.

Refer to Bloomberg