The production of the next iPhone is late! To believe Nikkei Asiathe long Chinese confinement – the Shanghai region has been locked down since the end of March – is dangerously slowing down the manufacture of the iPhone 14.
To the point that Apple would have asked its suppliers to do “product development efforts” to make up for lost time. If the partners fail to turn things around, iPhone production schedules and initial production volumes could be affected.
According to an Apple supplier quoted by Nikkei Asia, “it will be difficult to make up for lost time. Apple and its suppliers are working day and night to accelerate development.especially since the reopening of factories in Shanghai is “rather slow “.
Are all iPhones affected?
Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst very familiar with the behind-the-scenes production of Apple products, indicates that according to this latest information, the Cupertino company has not changed. “its plans for the production of the iPhone 14 since the containment of Shanghai. »
Nevertheless, he points out that “iPhone 14 Max is late, but the situation is still under control, and suppliers can work at full speed to stick to the schedule”.
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My latest channel checks suggest that Apple has not changed the shipping plan for the iPhone 14 models since the Shanghai lockdown. iPhone 14 Max is running behind, but it’s still under control currently, and suppliers can work overtime to catch up with the schedule.— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 26, 2022
A source of Nikkei Asia seems to think the same thing and indicates that if the various stages before mass production can be accelerated, this could happen at the beginning of September.
Ming-Chi Kuo also argues that, for him, the challenge will come more from demand than supply. Does this mean that the iPhone 14 will not have the necessary appeal after a 2021 generation which has been very successful?
Interestingly, display tech analyst Ross Young commented on this tweet from Ming-Chi Kuo to put it into perspective. “In fact, iPhone 14 Max panel shipments have always been late”he says. ” I do not know why. Maybe because their sales expectations are lower” for these models.
At the moment, production has, strictly speaking, not started. The four iPhones are in the process of passing the engineering verification testing (or EVT), during which suppliers design the mechanical elements and production lines for new devices. It is also at this stage that companies establish the bill of materials (or BOM), i.e. the manufacturing cost. One of the four planned models is about three weeks late.
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However, the main iPhone assemblers Foxconn and Pegatron are in the preparatory phase, and are working to put in place the succession of steps that will allow efficient mass production. After this first phase, called NPI, to New Product Introduction, the manufacturers will then enter a short period of verification of the processes put in place. Mass production normally only comes at the end of August every year.
An Isaiah Research analyst interviewed by Nikkei Asiaconfirms that “The resumption of production is not progressing well due to the large number of restrictions affecting life and travel in the Shanghai region, even if production sites can operate in self-sufficiency”.
He also adds that “currently, he does not believe the delay will have an immediate effect on the product launch schedule, but we need to carefully monitor for hidden and long-term impacts”he says.
Apple has already warned that the situation in China could have repercussions on the production of current models, and reduce its turnover, for a maximum envisaged of eight billion dollars.
Source : Nikkei