More Supply Chain Issues: Electronics Factory Hub Shenzhen Locked Down For (At Least) A Week

March 15, 2022 by Dave Haynes

As much as we all want to wish the pandemic away and go back to normal, COVID-19 continues to be a serious problem both for health and business. The latest big knock comes out of China, where lockdowns are again impacting the supply chain for electronics components.

The local government of Shenzhen has locked the city of 17 million down for a week, halting public transportation and ordering all nonessential businesses to suspend operations until next Monday. The Chinese government also intends to do a PCR test for everyone in the city.

Most readers will already understand that much of the electronics used in digital signage and pro AV – components like printed circuit boards to finished goods like media players and LED cabinets – come out of the industrial parks of Shenzhen, so whatever supply chain issues were already a reality will likely get a little more exacerbated.

Shenzhen is home to a pile of major tech companies, and also one of the biggest hubs for Taiwan-based Foxconn, the ginormous contract manufacturer that does work for other tech giants like Apple, Google to Amazon.

The lockdowns come as China aggressively tries to contain Omicron’s spread. The government moved to a mega-city lockdown based on 60 new cases – a number that in the west would have resulted in shrugs (or high-fives).

A one-week lockdown, if that’s as long as it lasts, would not likely have a massive impact. Hardware manufacturers and solutions providers will have already been conditioned to supply issues in the past couple of years, as well customers. The concern would be if it persists past that one week.

A ferry ride away (or even subway … done that) in Hong Kong, that city is struggling with a big, near vertical spike in cases and deaths.