Bloomberg quoted Foxconn representatives as saying that after a few weeks of sluggishness, Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory has returned to 90 percent of its peak capacity, and the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro supply situation has eased considerably.
Li Junqiang, manager of Just-in-Time Logistics at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou Science and Technology Park, said, “We are responsible for all production material distribution and shipping transportation at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou Park, and yesterday shipments reached a record high of 243 carloads, and the entire production situation has returned to a condition prior to the epidemic, with overall smooth operation.
Wang Xue, vice president of Foxconn Zhengzhou Park, said that since December 2022, Foxconn has optimized the coordination of upstream and downstream configurations to ensure the immediate and sufficient supply of production materials, and as of December 30, 2022, the park’s shipments have reached about 90% of the scheduled peak at the beginning of 2022, and the current order situation is good.
To encourage employees to spend New Year’s Eve locally to support production, Foxconn has launched a salary incentive policy that allows employees to receive up to RMB 13,000 per month in subsidies for job stability, said Wang Xue.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro supply has gradually started to improve, with most configurations already showing a wait time of just one to two weeks on the official U.S. website, and up to a month or more during the worst periods of shortages.
Over the past few months, a number of factors have caused supply chain disruptions, resulting in heavy production of iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, with the latter being the most affected. At the height of the disruption, Apple issued a press release stating that iPhone 14 Pro production was being “reduced” and that they expected iPhone 14 Pro to ship within weeks, if not up to a month.
Market research firm TrendForce expects total iPhone shipments to be around 47 million units in the first quarter of next year, down 22 percent from the same period a year ago and below the 56 million unit estimate released at the end of October. Those figures include all iPhone models.
Foxconn’s plant in Zhengzhou is sometimes referred to as “iPhone City,” and at one point, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research, Zhengzhou was producing 85 percent of the iPhone Pro lineup.
In addition, Foxconn has shifted some iPhone production to other factories in Shenzhen. Despite short-term production ups and downs, supply chain sources say Apple is looking at medium- to long-term goals to diversify its supply chain and expand its production/assembly base to more locations.
