Apple shares slip as China factory unrest may further hit iPhone shipments

Shares of Apple Inc. fell about 2% on Monday as rising unrest at a key Chinese plant fanned worries of an even bigger hit to the already constrained manufacturing of higher-end iPhone 14 fashions.

Reuters reported on Friday that the Foxconn-operated plant, which is the world’s largest iPhone manufacturing unit, might see an extra drop in November shipments as a result of employee unrest and rising COVID-19 instances within the nation.

Separately, Bloomberg News reported citing a supply earlier within the day that there might be a shortfall of 6 million iPhone Pro models this 12 months as a result of production-related issues.

“The ongoing challenges around delays in returning to a normal level of production at the Zhengzhou facility could limit the pace with which supply-demand equilibrium can be reached in the coming months,” J.P. Morgan analysts mentioned.

They added that lead instances for Pro fashions have moderated besides in China the place the timeline stays elevated.

Customers within the United States anticipate about 33 days for his or her iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max fashions to be delivered house, whereas the identical fashions usually are not out there for in-store pickup, the brokerage mentioned.

Wall Street predicts Apple might lose some quantity as a result of manufacturing disruptions, with Wedbush Securities anticipating a minimum of 5% of models being affected and probably as much as 10% within the first quarter.

Apple didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.

Apple shares have fallen 3.4% in November amid manufacturing woes, in contrast with a 2% acquire within the Nasdaq Composite index.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Anil D’Silva)