Shipments of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max in the fourth quarter of 2022 will be “significantly lower” than the market expected due to worker protests at Foxconn’s main iPhone factory in China, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo said today that iPhone 14 Pro (Max) production at the Zhengzhou factory had been "significantly impacted" by protests over adverse working conditions, prompting it to cut its fourth-quarter 2022 iPhone shipment forecast by 20% to 70-75 million units, while the market consensus was 80-85 million units. Average capacity utilization at the factory was only around 20% in November and will only improve to 30-40% in December, according to Kuo. Kuo stated that Pegatron and Luxshare have each received around 10% of Foxconn's iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max orders, and that mass shipments will not begin until late December at the earliest.
Kuo: iPhone 14 Pro demand could simply disappear
Kuo believes the production issues could result in iPhone sales this quarter being "significantly below the market consensus of 20-30% or more." Due to the long delivery delays and the recession, Kuo expects much of the demand for the iPhone 14 Pro models this quarter to simply "disappear" rather than be postponed, suggesting that many customers who would have purchased an iPhone 14 Pro now will not return to order the device in January or later when supply improves. Delivery of the iPhone 14 Pro models from Apple's online store in Germany is currently delayed by at least four weeks as the company struggles to maintain supply. (Image: Apple)
