Samsung, Oppo, Vivo stop smartphone production in India as govt announces COVID-19 lockdowns

Ericsson, Nokia are still continuing with production at their Chennai and Pune factories

Employees test mobile phones on an assembly line in the mobile phone plant of Rising Stars Mobile India Pvt., a unit of Foxconn Technology Co., in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, India, on Friday, July 12, 2019. Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., opened its first India factory four years ago, it now operates two assembly plants with plans to expand those and open two more. The company was integral to China’s transformation into a manufacturing colossus, and founder Terry Gou has told India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Foxconn could help India do the same. (Bloomberg)

Oppo, Vivo and Samsung have stopped production at their Greater Noida factories as the government announced a lockdown to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. These smartphone companies will be meeting Uttar Pradesh government officials tonight to discuss the "future course of action", reported ET Telecom.

Samsung India confirmed that its production in India has been suspended till further notice. Its Noida facility is the world's largest mobile phone factory which was set up in 2018.

"At Samsung, health and safety of our employees is our highest priority. As a measure to safeguard our employees and their families against Covid-19 and in compliance with directives from the Government, we have decided to currently suspend our manufacturing operations in Noida and have asked our employees at our sales, marketing and R&D offices across India to work from home," a Samsung spokesperson said in a statement.

According to ET Telecom, Vivo has already asked all it non-factory workers to work from home from Monday. The publication added that telecom firms Ericsson and Nokia are still continuing with production work at their Chennai and Pune factories.

Most cities are being put on complete lockdown from Monday onwards with only essential services being allowed to be on like pharmacies. PM Narendra Modi has appealed to all establishments to not deduct salaries of employees under the current circumstances.