6-Million Hit! Apple iPhone 14 Pros Hit By Tumult at China Plant
Turmoil at Apple Inc.'s key manufacturing hub of Zhengzhou is likely to result in a production shortfall of close to 6 million iPhone Pro units this year, according to a person familiar with assembly operations.
The situation remains fluid at the plant and the estimate of lost production could change, the person said, asking not to be named discussing private information. Much will depend on how quickly Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese company that operates the facility, can get people back to assembly lines after violent protests against Covid restrictions. If lockdowns continue in the weeks ahead, production could be set further back.
The Zhengzhou campus has been wracked by lockdowns and worker unrest for weeks after Covid infections left Foxconn and the local government struggling to contain the outbreak. Thousands of staff fled in October after chronic food shortages, only to be replaced by new employees who rebelled against pay and quarantine practices.
The Foxconn facility produces the vast majority of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max devices, Apple's most in-demand handsets this year. Those premium phones have picked up the slack for slumping demand for the regular iPhone 14 models. Apple lowered its overall production target to about 87 million units from an earlier projection of 90 million units, Bloomberg News reported.
Apple and Foxconn increased their estimates of the Zhengzhou shortfall over the past two weeks due to growing disruptions, said the person, adding that they expect to be able to make up the 6 million units in lost output in 2023.
Morgan Stanley analysts earlier this month estimated the iPhone Pro model shortfall at about 6 million units this year, though that was before the outbreak of
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