Apple’s Tim Cook blames supply disruption from China’s pandemic controls for revenue drop

Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Thursday said that manufacturing disruptions in November and December contributed to its first quarterly decline in revenue since early 2019, in an apparent reference to the unrest late last year at the world’s largest iPhone factory in central China in response to Beijing’s rigid pandemic restrictions.

“Covid-19 challenges … significantly impacted the supply of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max and lasted through most of December,” Cook said during an earnings call, citing a November notice that the company put up warning that restrictions forced its major iPhone factory in the city of Zhengzhou to operate “at significantly reduced capacity”.