The operation of Foxconn’s major manufacturing base in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou has been affected by a local COVID-19 outbreak since this October. Since it’s Apple’s main manufacturing partner, the estimated shipments of iPhones 14 devices this year have been lowered to 78.1 million units, according to TrendForce.
As a result of COVID, the capacity utilization rate of Foxconn’s base has yet to risen above the level of 70%, adds the research group. The outbreak in Zhengzhou was at its worst just as Apple was trying to ramp up sales of the new iPhone models for this year (i.e., the iPhone 14 series) to a peak.
What’s more, the new Pro models have been in high demand, so Apple has kept raising their share in the overall iPhone production. As a result, Foxconn as the sole assembler of the new Pro models has been under significant strain, according to TrendForce. Besides the Zhengzhou base, Foxconn is also drawing support from its other major base located in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.
However, TrendForce says this move isn’t enough to bring an immediate relief to the current capacity crunch. Given this situation, the research group has corrected down its projection on the total shipments of all iPhone 14 models in 2022 to 78.1 million units.
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