A fire has swept through a Foxconn facility that produces parts for iPhones, engulfing several floors of the Zhengzhou building in flames.
The blaze is thought to have started in the central air conditioning and ventilation ducts on the roof of the building, but a representative of the company told the Wall Street Journal that there were no casualties.
Despite the fact that the plant is the main iPhone facility, the spokesperson also said there would be no impact on production.
Foxconn is currently creating all the iPhone lines on sale from Apple, from the iPhone 5s through to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
It is also thought Apple will launch at least two and potentially three new iPhones this year, in the shape of the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 6c (also possibly called the iPhone 7c or, according to the latest rumours, iPhone 5se).This will likely see Foxconn, as well as parts suppliers, ramp up production in the summer ahead of an autumn launch.
No doubt, then, that Apple and its entire iPhone supply chain will be relieved the incident does not seem to have affected the factory floor.
This is not the first time Foxconn has suffered an incident of this kind, however. The company's iPad 2 factory suffered an explosion in May 2011, when dust caught fire in an air duct, killing three and injuring 15. Four months later, in September, another factory caught fire, although nobody was reported injured.
Authorities are now investigating the cause of this most recent fire.
Main image credit: Nadkachana, Wikimedia Commons
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolenNews Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
-
Lateral moves in tech: Why leaders should support employee mobilityIn-depth Encouraging staff to switch roles can have long-term benefits for skills in the tech sector
