iPhone 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max Availability Has Improved Amid Ongoing Workers' Protest In China

Several prospective buyers of the iPhone 14 Pro line may get lucky ahead of the holiday season and can lay their hands on the Pro models this year.

Apple has been facing disruption due to workers' protests at its partner and iPhone contract manufacturer Foxconn's facility in China, but the situation has slightly improved as lead times for the iPhone 14 Pro orders have improved slightly outside of China, the media has reported. This means several prospective buyers of the iPhone 14 Pro line may get lucky ahead of the holiday season and can lay their hands on the models this year.

The lead times for iPhone 14 Pro models have gone down in most regions outside of China.

However, the ongoing Covid-19-related labour problems at the main iPhone factory in China are still a problem, says a report by Apple Insider. The report added that supplies and delivery lead times for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have slightly improved. 

The Apple Insider report added, week 12 of the JP Morgan Apple Product Availability Tracker has seen mixed results across all main iPhone 14 models. On a global basis, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus have seen lead times grow from two days in week 11 to 3 days while the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models saw times reduce to averages of 35 days each from 41 days apiece a week prior.

The reduced lead times for the Pro models are seen as "encouraging trends in relation to supply improvement," the report added citing JP Morgan's tracker.

This comes amid reports of China's zero Covid restrictions affecting the production of iPhone 14, the cheapest among the iPhone 14 lineup. The production of iPhone 14 will fall 16 million units short of expectations this year in the wake of the coronavirus restrictions in China and weak demand for the entry-level iPhone models, a report said last week.

According to a report by news agency Bloomberg, UBS analysts have slashed their forecast of total iPhone 14 production to 76 million, down from 92 million units for the second half (H2) of 2022, which is a 20 per cent decline from last year. The analysts have attributed the lower expectations to both the manufacturing disruption faced by iPhone's contract manufacturer Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., and weakening demand for lower-end iPhone 14 models.