Apple Inc. said Sunday that it now expects lower shipments of its high-end iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max devices than it did previously, as COVID-19 issues hamper production in China.
“We continue to see strong demand for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models,” the company announced in a Sunday evening press release. “However, we now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated and customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products.”
Apple
AAPL,
acknowledged in its release that COVID-19 issues have “temporarily impacted” production of the devices at the Zhengzhou site that is the “primary” assembly facility for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. That facility is currently seeing “significantly reduced” operating capacity.
“We are working closely with our supplier to return to normal production levels while ensuring the health and safety of every worker,” the company added in the release.
Analysts have been discussing iPhone production disruption at manufacturer Foxconn’s
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Zhengzhou facility for the past week amid fallout from COVID-19 restrictions in the city.
“Although Apple earnings were only a week ago, supply shortages at the high end of the market and recent COVID lockdowns in China impacting a Foxconn plant could negatively impact iPhone units in the December quarter,” UBS analyst David Vogt wrote Wednesday, ahead of Apple’s press release. “While we believe iPhone demand tends to not be perishable, a slippage of a couple of million units is possible below our 86 million forecast.”
While Apple was the only Big Tech company to see its shares rally in the wake of its late-October earnings report, shares have struggled more since then. They logged their worst weekly performance since March 2020 last week.