‘iPhone City’ lockdown finally ends: How much it cost Apple and all other details – Times of India

The last week or so has been tough for Apple and Foxconn — its biggest manufacturing partner — in China. Zhengzhou — better known as iPhone City — has been under strict Covid-19 lockdown and that has dealt a severe blow to Apple’s iPhone sales. According to a report by CNN, the five-day lockdown in Zhengzhou has finally been lifted. The news will come as a massive relief to Foxconn and Apple.
Protests, lockdowns and more
Zhengzhou has seen a massive unrest in the last few days. It was reported that over 20,000 workers had left the city. Then there were reports about violent protests over wages and the lockdown rules.
Multiple reports also suggested that workers had been isolated and were forced to live and work on-site with limited food and supplies to prevent further outbreaks. It was also reported that Foxconn offered to pay the protesting workers extra money to quit their jobs. A report by CNN revealed that Foxconn had offered to pay workers CNY 10,000 (approximately Rs 1,14,000) to quit and leave the iPhone factory. The sum is reported to be workers’ one or two months of wages.

$1 billion and counting: Estimated loss for Apple

According to the CNN report, Daniel Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, estimates that Apple lost close to $1 billion in sales in a week because of the protests, lockdowns and general unrest in iPhone City.
Another analyst — Ming-Chi Kuo — suggests that Apple 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max have suffered massively. As per Kuo, the production estimates for iPhone in the fourth quarter have been slashed by by 20 per cent. Kuo believes Apple will ship close to 80 million iPhone units in this quarter. Further, Kuo expects iPhone 14 Pro models’ shipments to drop by 15 million to 20 million units.