Apple's shares fell to an 18-month low this week amid iPhone supply issues and a broader downturn in the stock market. Apple's stock closed at $126.04 on Wednesday to reach its lowest mark since June 2021, and still remains within that territory.
Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn has faced iPhone production constraints due to COVID-19-related issues over the past few months. Last month, workers protested at Foxconn's main iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China over poor working conditions stemming from COVID-19 restrictions. While the Chinese government has since started to ease some restrictions, increased spread of the virus has led to labor shortages at Foxconn.
Last month, Apple issued a rare public warning stating that iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments would be lower than it previously anticipated due to the restrictions that were in place at Foxconn at the time.
Earlier this week, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce said the capacity utilization rate of Foxconn's factory had yet to rise above 70% since the production issues began. The situation has primarily impacted the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max given stronger demand for those devices, resulting in multi-week shipping delays. The standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models are both in stock on Apple's online store.
Due to the COVID-19-related issues, economic uncertainty, and the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday next month, TrendForce believes that the iPhone production issues will continue into early 2023 and lowered its iPhone shipment forecast for all models to 47 million units in the first quarter of the year, down from 52 million.
Apple briefly achieved a $3 trillion valuation earlier this year, but the company's market cap is now closer to the $2 trillion mark again.
