Apple might ship 15 million to 20 million fewer iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max units than expected after COVID-19 lockdowns and protests by workers at Apple's iPhone assembly factories in China, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo believes there's "significant downside risks" to Apple and the iPhone after worker protests at Foxconn's Zhengzhou iPhone assembly plant and Covid restrictions. Kuo notes that market consensus was that Apple would ship 80 million to 85 million units of the iPhone 14 Pro series in calendar Q4 2022, versus the 70 million to 75 million Kuo is now predicting.    

"The production of the Zhengzhou iPhone plant was significantly affected by laborers' protests, so I cut the 4Q22 iPhone shipments by about 20% to 70