Due to COVID-19 restrictions temporarily disrupting production at a factory in Zhengzhou, China, Apple has stated it expects lower shipments of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone Pro Max than previously anticipated.
The strict zero-COVID-19 policy in China has already forced numerous foreign companies, including Ester Lauder Companies Inc. and Canada Goose Holdings Inc., to close their stores there and reduce full-year forecasts, and the Cupertino tech giant is the latest to suffer as a result.
"The facility is currently operating at significantly reduced capacity," Apple said in a statement. "Customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products."
Its flagship Zhengzhou facility in central China, which employs over 200,000 people, has been shaken by frustration with strict measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, with many workers quitting the site.
According to Reuters, due to stricter COVID regulations in China, manufacturing of Apple's iPhones could drop by up to 30% at one of the world's largest factories next month.
In the same vein, Foxconn, Apple's largest iPhone manufacturer, said on Monday that it was working to recover full production at a major plant in Zhengzhou, China, that had been impacted by COVID-19 limits, and that its fourth-quarter projection had been reduced.
The majority of Apple's latest phones, including the iPhone 14, are made at Foxconn's Zhengzhou facility, which has roughly 200,000 workers.
The industrial park where the factory is located will be placed under China's lowest "static management" category of lockdown starting at noon on Wednesday and lasting through noon on November 9 according to the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone in central China.
The manufacturing impact comes at a time when electronics manufacturers are often busy, just before the year-end holiday shopping season, which is also a busy period for retailers of consumer products like Apple.
According to an official statement, people in the area, which is around 16 miles south-east of Zhengzhou, are prohibited from leaving their homes and must be PCR tested once a day. Public transportation is suspended, and only approved automobiles are permitted on the roadways. Other steps include the shutdown of non-essential offices, stores, and services.
The announcement stated that any infractions of the restrictions will be "severely dealt with" by the authorities and asked residents to work together to "win the battle against the epidemic in this district."
Workers were filmed abandoning the site in late October after complaining about their treatment and provisions on social media. To avoid the spread of the virus, nearby communities have devised strategies to separate migrant workers retreating to their hometowns.
