What you need to know
- LG Innotek makes camera modules for Apple's iPhones.
- Its factory in Gumi, South Korea has been closed.
- A worker was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus.
LG Innotek, a supplier of the camera modules used in iPhones, has closed a factory in Gumi, South Korea. The move comes after a member of the factory's workforce was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus.
The factory closed over the weekend, according to a Reuters report. An official also confirmed that the facility will remain out of action through Monday while decontamination takes place. However, it isn't confirmed that it will re-open on Tuesday, let alone be able to function at full capacity.
Whether this will have any real impact on iPhone production is unclear. LG Innotek may well be the company producing camera modules for the upcoming iPhone 12, but mass production is still months away from kicking into gear. It's perhaps a little early for that to be put at risk.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that he believes the current coronavirus issues facing the company's manufacturing partners is a temporary issue, rather than one that will run and run.
"And so the question for us after we get on the other side will be, was the resilience there or not and do we need to make some changes... My perspective sitting here today is that if there are changes, you're talking about adjusting some knobs, not some sort of wholesale fundamental change."
