Apple has confirmed that customers all across the world will have to wait longer for their iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, in a press release which stated that their factory in Zhengzhou, China, is currently “operating at significantly reduced capacity,” due to covid restrictions.
“We continue to see strong demand for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. 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,” said Apple in the release.
Apple had started to produce the iPhone 14 series across a number of factories in India. However, the Indian factories were being used to manufacture only the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Max. A few months after the launch of the iPhone 14 series, Apple decided to stop manufacturing the iPhone 14 Max, due to low demand.
Apple had planned to manufacture the iPhone 14 Pro series in India as well, but for some reason has reserved the Pro series iPhones for its Chinese factories. Theoretically, Apple can still manufacture the iPhone 14 Pro series in India, but the main challenge will be diverting resources for the iPhone 14 Pro to India.
In October, a report from Reuters revealed that iPhone production could slump by at least 30 per cent due to the strict covid restrictions affecting Foxconn, the China-based factory Apple uses to build its new iPhones.
About 2,00,000 workers were forcibly locked inside Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory during an outbreak with limited food and supplies for several days. After days of being locked up in the factory, a large chunk of the workers broke free from the quarantine and fled the facility in droves, fearing that they would be made subjects in an experiment by the Chinese military.
As demand for Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro series continues to grow and private sellers selling the devices for a premium in the black market, it will be interesting to see if Apple decides to reallocate sources to India and finally start production of the iPhone 14 Pro series in India.
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