Apple shares fell nearly 2% in US premarket trading Monday on news that unrest at the world’s largest iPhone factory in central China could result in a production shortfall of iPhone Pro units this year, according to Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with assembly operations.
The person said Apple’s manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology Group’s factory in Zhengzhou, could wind up with a 6 million iPhone Pro production shortfall by the end of the year, adding the situation remains fluid and lost production numbers could change.
A lot will depend on how fast Foxconn can hire new workers and revive full capacity on assembly lines after weeks of unrest at the plant over Covid restrictions and disputes about pay. Thousands of workers were given $1,400 to leave the plant last week, a move by Foxconn to quell the unrest. Still, the Covid situation in China is worsening, and lockdowns in the weeks ahead could create even more production woes.