Electricity in China is bad: suppliers from Apple and other companies have already warned of the inevitability of delays

Power outages in China have only worsened, prompting various companies to move production out of the country to other regions, with suppliers from Apple, Amazon and others struggling to keep production on track ahead of the busy holiday season.

Since June of this year, there have been various notifications of power outages from time to time, but since mid-September this has become a common occurrence. Now every week we receive a notification informing which days of the next week they will turn off the electricity.

Manager of one of the Chinese companies

The company’s 500 employees produce Bluetooth receivers, headphones and other accessories for international brands such as Harman Kardon and Edifier. With the power supply cut to two days a week, the company has to rely on its own power generators. Another supplier, which serves Amazon, Lenovo, and other companies, only gets power three days a week. Representatives of Apple and other companies confirm that if the situation continues, then the supply of components will certainly be delayed.

Suppliers in cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, where tens of thousands of technology enterprises are based, say they have faced capacity constraints this month as local governments cut energy consumption. The reasons are cited as rising commodity prices, rising demand for electricity amid recovery from the pandemic and President Xi Jinping’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions.

The situation seemed difficult after a week of power outages in late September. Fears are now growing that the disruption will be long-term. Sources note that the situation could last until the end of this year or even longer.