Apple confirms problems with iPhone 14 stock supply

For the first time in the company’s history, Apple is warning of iPhone stock shortages directly affecting prices and availability of phones in stores.

Launched in September, the iPhone 14 was relatively easy to find only in Pro and Pro Ultra versions, with Apple treating the phone’s more profitable pressings as a priority, tacitly acknowledging problems with available production capacity at partner factories. In the meantime, these issues have become much more pressing, culminating in reports of a full-blown employee revolt by Foxconn, the main partner in China, appearing in the public space. Specifically, hundreds of Foxcoon employees could be seen escaping from the company’s headquarters as if from a prison, reacting to conspiracy theories suggesting that they had been turned into guinea pigs.

According to information obtained from reliable sources, Foxconn employees were convinced that they were being subjected to an experiment initiated with the approval of the Chinese Communist Party, political factors wanting to find out what would happen if the COVID pandemic was allowed to evolve unchecked within a relatively large community and without the opportunity to observe good social distancing practices. Specifically, according to conspiracy theories, the PPC officials wanted to find out how seriously ill members of that community would become and how many of them would die. Apparently, their fears were reinforced by the attitude of their superiors who seemed to be wilfully ignoring cases of infection among employees, delaying as long as possible the application of the rules that required sick employees to be removed from the community and sent to quarantine centres.

For its part, Apple says it prioritizes the health and safety of workers in its supply chain. Demand for the iPhone 14 Pro is still high, so Apple now expects lower shipments of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max than previously anticipated. Because of this, customers will experience longer wait times to receive their new products, the company said.

Even though Apple has halted iPhone production before due to the COVID pandemic, this is the first time the company has formally admitted problems with phone stock supplies. Certainly, the disruptions will also have a material impact on the company’s quarterly earnings, which will be included in the company’s next investor statement.