iPhone manufacturer Apple Inc. (AAPL) says that it will be keeping iPhone production at a flat rate of about 220 million units in 2022. The company cites the prolonged global computer chip shortage and China’s COVID-19 restrictions as the main reasons affecting the smartphone industry.
A major outbreak of COVID-19 in china has left the country with limited alternatives other than announcing a wide lockdown in Shanghai which is now on its seventh week. Last month, Apple had warned that any lockdowns in China and Taiwan where many iPhone parts are produced will disrupt demand and supply chains in the current quarter.
Semiconductor manufacturer Foxconn Technology Co. (TPE: 2354) which supplies Apple with chips revealed it has been able to keep its workers on site in a closed loop system to reduce the impact on production disruption however lockdowns across the country have pushed many to sound demand-related warnings.
On the same time, Nikkei reported that Apple has told its suppliers to ramp up iPhone development considering the lockdowns in China have slowed schedule for at least one of the new phones.
