A month ago, getting an iPhone 14 Pro was almost impossible. After a massive COVID-19 lockdown in the largest iPhone factory, Foxconn couldn’t keep up with demand, and Apple warned that getting an iPhone 14 Pro during the holidays would be problematic.
While the manufacturer still wants to bring production to full capacity, customers are already seeing the availability of the iPhone 14 Pro models improve, as getting any model online doesn’t take more than two weeks right now (via 9to5Mac).
In addition, according to a Wall Street Journal report, a J.P. Morgan analysis shows that the availability of the latest Pro models is almost back to normal:
“Supply is improving and inching slowly toward parity with demand,” J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee wrote in a note to investors. Wait times for U.S. consumers ordering the latest iPhone Pro models, which once extended to 40 days, have improved, according to J.P. Morgan.
Background
Early in November, Apple stated it would be harder to get an iPhone 14 Pro model this Christmas. Shortly after, with COVID-19 cases rising in China, the largest iPhone factory tried to lure workers to the factory with bonuses, which it then didn’t pay.
This lack of payment generated a violent protest in the Zhengzhou province, and thousands of workers, who would help maintain the iPhone 14 production, decided to leave the factory.
At the beginning of December, Reuters reported that Foxconn’s largest iPhone factory would resume full iPhone 14 production around late December to early January.
“At present, the overall epidemic situation has been brought under control with November being the most affected period,” the company said in a statement, adding it has started to recruit new employees and was gradually “restoring production capacity to normal”.
Now, with the latest reports, we know production is returning to normal. Although Apple will ship at least 10 million fewer iPhone 14 models than expected, the Cupertino firm will start 2023 on the right foot.
