By Senad Karaahmetovic

Apple (NASDAQ) asked suppliers for expedited iPhone development following strict Chinese lockdowns that impeded production of at least one new iPhone, Nikkei Asia reports.

China instituted new security measures as part its zero COVID policy a few month ago. These were implemented by iPhone makers Pegatron Corp (TW) will temporarily close its Kunshan and Shanghai assembly plants.

Some parts of Shanghai, China’s most populous city, still remain under lockdown as the country’s government intensifies its quarantine efforts.

Apple now requests suppliers to expedite development to make up lost time. Cupertino’s titan will present the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Max in late 2012.

“It is challenging to make up for the lost time. Nikkei Asia quotes an Apple supplier as saying, “Apple and its suppliers are working round the clock to speed-up development.”

Last month, Apple warned investors about significant headwinds ahead as coronavirus lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine continue to weigh on the tech giant’s operations. According to Nikkei, at worst the headwinds will affect production schedules and reduce the volume of new iPhones.

John Donovan from Loop Capital estimates that iPhone shipments and builds are expected to be less than the consensus by summer 2022.

Analysts predict that overall build volumes will drop to 245million, which is 7-8 million less than the previous build.

“Near-Term: CQ2 2022 builds to fall to 42M – more importantly Loop sees shipments trending to 41-43M – 9%-12% below current consensus. Medium-Term: CQ3 2022 builds to fall to 57M – more importantly Loop sees shipments trending to 50-51M – 3-5% below current consensus. Longer-Term: CQ4 2022 builds remain unchanged at 88M for now – current uncertainty globally to be more fully addressed in early July based on our findings,” Donovan said in a client note.

As a result, Loop Capital’s Ananda Baruah cut the price target on Apple to $180.00 per share from $210.00 to reflect likely lowered shipments.

“We believe that not only is Street likely set 4M – 6M high for June Q iPhones, we believe they are still setting the already March Q too high by 5M units (recall that AAPL does not report units, only revenue). While we see risk to June Q iPhone revenue, our work suggests Street remains low on iPhone revenue for the September and December Q’s given ASPs. Street remains materially low on ASPs for the June Q – December Q. For June this isn’t enough to make up for the unit shortfall; but it is (and then some) for the September and December Q’s,” Baruah wrote in a separate note.

An analyst said that ASPs were trending higher than the Street consensus.