In the middle of the important Christmas business, Apple is struggling with significant delivery bottlenecks for the new iPhone 14 Pro.
Production at the main plant in China is currently being affected by Covid restrictions, Apple said on Monday night.
The factory runs with significantly reduced emissions.
This will mean longer waiting times for customers.
Apple traditionally does its biggest business in the Christmas quarters - and even usually displaces Samsung from the top position in the smartphone market.
Both the iPhone 14 Pro and the larger iPhone 14 Pro Max are affected by the bottlenecks, Apple said.
The models only came onto the market in September together with the iPhone 14.
Among other things, Apple equipped the Pro versions this year with significantly better cameras than the basic models – and according to market researchers, they are correspondingly popular.
The demand is unbroken, stressed Apple.
The delivery problems should also affect the business figures.
According to insiders, Apple is already expecting a reduced production volume for the new smartphone flagship.
According to the Bloomberg news agency, the production volume is to fall by three million devices, from 90 to 87 million units.
According to this, sales of the iPhone 14 and iPhone Plus have cooled down rapidly since their market launch.
The downturn is intensifying in China.
Apple had already canceled plans to expand production of its new iPhones this year after an expected surge in demand failed to materialize