This fall, when Foxconn, Apple’s manufacturing partner, was impacted by the Corona outbreak in China, Apple had difficulties producing the iPhone 14—particularly the Pro and Pro Max.
The value of the company’s shares dropped by a trillion dollars as more expectations arose from the difficulties with the iPhone, and it now trades at its lowest level in 52 weeks.
Apple issued a warning to customers and investors back in November that the situation in China was preventing it from producing enough iPhone 14 Pro units to fulfill demand.
The amount of iPhone 14 units that Apple will sell in 2022 has been revised, according to a new study from TrendForce, which also predicts that the business will continue to struggle until 2023.
According to Trendforce, the Foxconn factory that makes the iPhone 14 has not operated at more than 70% of its actual capacity since October. Even though Foxconn received assistance from one of its other plants, it was reportedly insufficient.
This has forced TrendForce to revise their prediction for 2022 total shipments of all iPhone 14 variants to 78.1 million units.
According to Trendforce’s analysis of the first quarter of 2023, China’s labor shortage problems started in December and “may get worse.”
In light of this, the business reduced its projection for iPhone shipments in the first quarter of 2023 to 47 million devices, a 22% decrease from the previous year.
This is connected to a significant policy shift made by the Chinese government to address the Corona outbreak and to make general preparations for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.
There are hints that the labor shortage might worsen as well. As a result, due to a different economic headwind, Apple is once again experiencing a labor shortage, which is hampering the manufacture of its products.
With a similar year-over-year fall of 22%, TrendForce has revised its projection for iPhone shipments in the first quarter from 23 to 47 million units, including all current models.
The price of the company’s shares, which are down little more than 3% so far, reached a new 52-week low of $125.92 during intraday trade.
On January 3, 2022, when Apple became the first firm to reach a $3 trillion valuation, it reached a 52-week high of little under $183.
