Apple flags hit to iPhone shipments from Chinese COVID disruptions

People look at Apple products as Apple Inc’s new iPhone 14 models go on sale in Beijing, China, Sept 16, 2022. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File photo

Apple Inc on Sunday said it was expecting lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro Max shipments than previously anticipated as COVID-19 restrictions temporarily disrupt production at an assembly facility in Zhengzhou, China.

“The facility is currently operating at significantly reduced capacity,” the iPhone maker said in a statement. “Customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products,” it further added.

Reuters last month reported that production of Apple’s iPhones could slump by as much as 30 percent at one of the world’s biggest factories next month due to tightening COVID curbs in China.

Separately, Taiwan’s Foxconn, Apple Inc’s biggest iPhone maker, said on Monday it was working to resume full production at a major plant in China’s Zhengzhou that had been hit by COVID-19 curbs, and revised down its fourth quarter outlook.