With video lockdowns and protests in China, it may be hard to buy Apple’s new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, a new report claims. Ming-Chi Kuo, a trusted Apple analyst, says that the company will ship 20% fewer phones than expected.
This new report is even more discouraging than the previous ones, which had already made people worry about when the new phone would be out. Earlier rumors said that Apple was short 6 million phones, but new estimates say that the number could be as high as 20 million.
Supply problems with the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are expected to last well into the holiday season. Recent research suggests that if these shortages are fixed, the current situation could last even longer. Covid lockdowns and the protests that followed in China are making Apple’s situation worse.
The first problems started when the Chinese government put in place strict lockout rules, which affected the Apple-supplier company Foxconn. Apple told people at the time that the iPhone 14 Pro might have longer wait times than usual.
All over China, people were angry about the lockdowns, which led to the current set of problems. Apple is very involved in the current protests, but they haven’t said anything about it in public.
Apple said in a statement last week that it has people working at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou. We’re looking into it and talking to Foxconn about the worries of their employees.
Because of supply problems, many customers may decide to wait until next year to buy an iPhone, according to a new study.