Mashable: Apple warned early in November of "severe" disruptions ahead of the holiday season and lower sales projections because of lower outputs from the mega factory.

The re-emergence of COVID threatens to aggravate labor shortages in China's iPhone City. Foxconn's mega factory in Zhengzhou, China (also called "iPhone City") is a major iPhone assembler and one that Apple should be concerned about.

As for the recent spikes in COVID cases, more than 37 million people are now being tested positive for coronavirus every single day.

Reports say that the Cupertino-based tech giant is in danger, and experts in the supply chain say that iPhone production could slow down for a month as the outbreak gets worse and continues to affect the economy.

Apple warned early in November of "severe" disruptions ahead of the holiday season and lower sales projections because of lower outputs from the mega factory. This was before sales didn't grow much in the important month around Christmas.

The Financial Times stated that many experts had initially upped expectations for the following six months, anticipating that unfulfilled orders would be postponed rather than canceled. However, modeling shows that President Xi Jinping's decision to loosen strict pandemic controls puts 1 million Chinese at risk of dying from COVID in the coming winter months. This could hurt Apple's profits in 2023.

Earlier this week, all of the employees at an Apple store in Beijing's biggest retail area called in sick, forcing the firm to reduce its operating hours.

Apple makes 20% of its total income from sales in China, and more than 90% of iPhones are put together in a factory in Zhengzhou.

Inside the Covid protests at the Zhengzhou "iPhone City" facility, the story went on, Apple's most important Taiwanese suppliers, such as Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron, have responded by trying to grow their new Indian and other operations.

Since the number of COVID cases reported in China is on the rise, the National Health Commission of that country has decided to stop releasing daily case counts.

Also, the number of recorded instances is rising, and hospitals and mortuaries across the country are reportedly at capacity. A million to two million COVID-related fatalities are expected next year, according to experts.