Xiaomi, Samsung, and other phone brands suspend manufacturing in India amid coronavirus lockdown

Update (03/25/2020): Foxconn and Wistron, the major iPhone makers in India, are also closing their doors due to a nationwide lockdown, Bloomberg reported.

Over the past two days, several Indian states have issued containment orders to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The turning point of this decision is that smartphone manufacturers in the world’s second largest smartphone market have stopped their production activities.

Yesterday Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and LG announced that they were closing their factories for different periods. Samsung has announced that it is suspending production at its Noida plant, which is the world’s largest mobile manufacturing plant, until March 25.

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Chinese phone makers Oppo and Vivo are also closing their facilities until March 25, according to an Economic Times report. We have requested more details from these companies and will update the story if we hear from them.

LG also announced last night that it was temporarily halting production at its two factories nationwide until the end of the month.

Today India’s leading phone maker Xiaomi also joined the group and said it would follow authorities’ lockdown orders:

Each facility such as Headquarters, Warehouse, Service Center, Mi Home, and Manufacturing Plant will comply with lockout orders. In the meantime, we will be vigilantly monitoring the situation 24 hours a day.

Lenovo-owned Motorola is also closing its factories, but the length of the shutdown is unclear at this time.

The global smartphone market is already collapsing, with shipments falling 38% in February. While plant closures can impact revenues and exports, it is a positive step taken by companies to ensure their workers are safe and healthy.