Apple Inc. is set to incur a production shortfall of up to six million iPhones following Covid-related turmoil at the company’s key manufacturing hub of Zhengzhou in China.
Health-related lockdowns have slowed down production at the Zhengzhou factory, while violent protests against China’s continued Covid restrictions have also contributed to worker unrest and consequential disruptions at the plant.
With the plant’s production sliding by 17% this year, Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese company that operates the facility, will be pressured to get its workers back to the plant as soon as possible while violent protests continue to erupt across the country in response to the government’s Covid regulations.
“It demonstrates that everyone, even Apple, is susceptible to supply-chain constraints in China due to Covid,” Anshel Sag of Moor Insights & Strategy noted.
This news comes at an inopportune time for the American electronics giant, particularly as it heads into the busy holiday season when peak sales are historically conducted. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley’s estimates of a loss of 6 million units of the iPhone Pro were reached prior to the recent outbreak of violence.