Haitong International Securities analyst Jeffy Pu has provided more insight into the iPhone 14’s production delay and revealed that the production of the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Max has been the worse affected by the lockdown in China.
A supply chain report from earlier in the week claimed that iPhone 14’s production was running behind schedule.
China’s zero-COVID policy has disrupted Apple’s supply chain
The Nikkei Asia report was the first to indicate that Apple suppliers are facing production issues with the upcoming iPhones. It stated a specific model was running behind schedule by about three weeks. The delay has been attributed to Apple’s key suppliers shutting down their factories for weeks due to China’s zero-COVID policy.
The company already expects to take an $8 billion hit to its revenue in the ongoing quarter due to supply chain disruptions caused by the lockdown in China.
To make up for the lost time, the iPhone maker has seemingly told suppliers to speed up the production of upcoming iPhones. An executive with Apple’s supplier said, “It is challenging to make up for the lost time. … Apple and its suppliers are working around the clock to speed up development.” However, the pace at which the factories are reopening is “rather slow” and not as quick as it should be.
iPhone 14 Max production could be running behind schedule by three weeks
The report did not specifically detail which iPhone 14 model was facing delays in the engineering verification test (EVT). 9to5Mac reports that Analyst Jeff Pu believes the iPhone 14 Max is the one whose production is running behind by three weeks.
The iPhone 14 Max is rumored to feature a 6.7-inch display. This should make it a fairly popular choice among consumers since it will be priced lower than the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Pro Max. Pegatron will primarily assemble the device, which will now reportedly enter mass production in late August.
In the EVT stage, Apple suppliers design the components and the manufacturing process for the new iPhones and calculate the associated manufacturing costs. This is followed by the verification stage, after which the devices enter mass production. Typically, the Cupertino company’s suppliers are done with EVT by June end, with production beginning by August end.
A source suggests that Apple’s suppliers can only meet the early September mass production deadline if the development process is sped up. If that does not happen, Apple could delay the iPhone 14 Max’s launch a few weeks after announcing it in September. Or, its stock could be in extremely short supply at launch.
Despite the production delays, the analyst expects Apple to manufacture 91 million iPhone 14 units by 2021 end.
