By Senad Karaahmetovic

Apple (NASDAQ) plans to maintain iPhone production at a relatively constant level in 2022, as both the company and the wider smartphone market continue to be challenged.

Bloomberg News reports that Apple instructed suppliers to make around 220,000,000 iPhones this year. That’s almost equal to the amount of iPhones made last year.

This compares to the analysts’ expectations of about 240 million units, fueled by the release of the new iPhone in the fall. The challenges facing the smartphone market have been evident since the start, prompting Apple and other industry players to reconsider their production targets.

Furthermore, the inflation’s jump to its 40-year high, geopolitical tensions, and supply chain constraints continue to hurt the corporations’ sales in 2022, with some estimating that total smartphone shipments will shrink 2% this year.

TrendForce Market Research has reduced its production forecasts for full-year twice in the last few weeks.

Apple has previously warned that supply chain constraints could dent its sales by $4 billion to $8 billion in the current quarter as the coronavirus-induced lockdowns continue to impede the company’s production lines in China.

Additionally, the tech industry in general expects a substantial slowdown of consumer spending because higher fuel prices and increased raw material costs will hurt demand.

“This year will be a tale of two halves,” said Linda Sui, a senior director of Strategy Analytics.

“Geopolitical issues, component shortages, price inflation, exchange rate volatility, and Covid disruption will continue to weigh on the smartphone market during the first half of 2022, before the situation eases in the second half,” Sui added.

Apple shares are down 1.5% on pre-opening Thursday