War in Ukraine forces Apple to cut iPhone SE and AirPods production

As the war in Ukraine rages on, electronics giants like Apple are forced to adapt to the reality of the market and therefore revise their production targets downwards. The iPhone SE and AirPods are directly impacted by Apple’s new strategy.

The Asian media Nikkei has just revealed that Apple would now plan to manufacture 20% less iPhone SE compared to what she had originally planned because of the war in Ukraine. Indeed, since Apple recently announced to suspend sales of iPhone, iPad and all its products in Russia, demand has dropped considerably.

According to information from Nikkei, Apple would have made the decision to reduce the production objectives of the iPhone SE 2022 2 to 3 million units compared to planned targets. As a reminder, according to UDC figures, Apple would have sold around 5 million iPhones in Russia in 2021, it is therefore not surprising to see Apple revise its production targets downwards. According to Counterpoint Research, the 2020 iPhone SE accounted for 12% of total iPhone sales from its launch in the second quarter of 2020 until the end of last year. Russia was not the most important market for the smartphonesince it was far behind Japan and the United States.

Apple is also slowing the pace of production of its AirPods

In addition to slowing down the production rate of its new affordable iPhone, Apple has also tackled the production line of its AirPods earphones. According to Nikkei, Apple now plans to make 10 million fewer AirPods than original goals. This huge drop will significantly lower the sales of wireless headphones in the region and therefore impact the manufacturer’s annual sales figures.

As a reminder, last year, Apple sold nearly 77 million AirPods worldwide. The popularity of headphones from the American giant would also be in freefall, although it still dominates the market. This decrease in production and sales is therefore expected to weigh heavily on the market share of the manufacturer. compared to other manufacturers that are not present in the region.

Source: Nikkei Asia