Korean companies halt production lines in India due to coronavirus

Korean companies operating in India have halted their local production lines in line with the Indian government's efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Following a decision by the Indian government, we will shut down Noida Plant, which makes smartphones, and Chennai Plant, which makes home appliances, before the end of this month,” Samsung Electronics said on March 23.

The Government of India has issued an Emergency Administrative Order temporarily suspending all commercial facilities in Chennai, with the exception of critical locations such as hospitals and government offices. The deadline is the end of this month. However, this order could be extended pending the spread of the COVIOD-19 virus.

Samsung Electronics has been steadily expanding its Noida plant, saying it will increase the factory's annual smartphone production to 120 million units in 2020. Industry observers expect the plant shutdown to disrupt the production of Samsung's budget smartphones targeting India, including the Galaxy M.

LG Electronics will also shut down manufacturing facilities in Noida and Pune by the end of March. These factories produce household appliances such as washing machines. The Pune plant also manufactures several smartphones.

Consumer electronics companies such as Samsung and LG have also faced overseas sales challenges. “We will temporarily suspend in-store sales for the safety of our customers and employees,” Best Buy, which operates more than 1,000 consumer electronics stores across the United States, said on its website on March 23. "Instead, we introduced a home delivery door for customers safe and sound." Best Buy does not provide professional installation services for large TVs and refrigerators due to concerns about viral infections that would interfere with its normal sales activities.

MediaMarkt, Europe's largest consumer electronics store, has also closed more than 850 stores in major countries since mid-March. “In North America and Europe, there are not as many customers using large appliance installation services as Korea is, but if closed stores are closed, it will hit the promotion of large appliances and new products,” said the home appliance official. Company

Hyundai Motor also closed its first and second factories in Chennai on the same day. Hyundai's Chennai plant produces 680,000 units of Crete, Santa Fe, Eona and i20 annually. Kia Motors is also considering ending production at its Andhra Pradesh, India plant. Andhra Pradesh is not included in the Indian government's suspension, but Kia Motors is responding by considering the plant shutdown how it might be assigned