Customers looking to buy the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max are now facing the perfect storm of high demand and low supply. Apple has announced that buyers will “experience longer wait times to receive their new products,” due to lower shipments as a result of COVID-19 restrictions impacting the primary assembly facility in Zhengzhou, China.
The factory, operated by major Apple supplier Foxconn, is currently operating at “significantly reduced capacity,” the company continued, adding that it’s working with Foxconn to “return to normal production levels while ensuring the health and safety of every worker.”
Wait times for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max now stretch to between four and five weeks, longer compared to just over a week ago when it stood at three to four weeks. The situation sits in stark contrast to the regular iPhone 14 Plus, production of which was halted due to lukewarm demand.
Apple’s admission comes in the wake of a Reuters report suggesting that the lockdown may have cut production by as much as 30%, with Foxconn working to boost production in Shenzhen to make up for the shortfall.
The news agency published another article detailing how the Zhengzhou plant’s 200,000 workers have been locked inside the compound, so that the government could prevent the coronavirus from spreading outside while the factory could continue working. This prompted many workers to flee.
