Fire at Pegatron Facility in Chennai Causes iPhone Production to be Suspended
Pegatron, a manufacturer of Apple iPhones, has temporarily halted iPhone assembly at its factory near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, following a fire incident. According to three sources, the incident occurred on Sunday night. The Taiwanese company has canceled all shifts for the day and has not yet informed workers if the facility will resume operations on Tuesday. Pegatron stated to Reuters that the incident, described as a “spark incident,” is currently under control and will not have a major financial or operational impact on the company.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
The fact that the fire was serious enough is evident from the fact that several fire engines at different stations had to be brought in to put out the fire, which lasted almost five hours.
“There are no injuries, no personal injuries and no other property damage. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation by (the) competent authority,” Pegatron said.
According to research firm Counterpoint, Pegatron currently produces 10 percent of Apple’s iPhone production in India.
Apple Inc has invested heavily in India since it began assembling the iPhone in the country in 2017 through Wistron and later Foxconn, after the Indian government pushed for local manufacturing.
Pegatron, which began assembling the iPhone in India in September last year, is also in talks to open a second Indian contract facility for Apple near its current one in Tamil Nadu.
