iPhone 14 Pro lead times marginally improve in slow return to normal

Lead times for deliveries of the iPhone 14 Pro models has slightly improved in China, as the march to return to normal supply levels slowly continues.

Apple's supply of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max handsets have been heavily impacted by the Zhengzhou factory problems, which have included COVID lockdowns and employee riots. In JP Morgan's 14th Apple Product Availability Tracker, there's more signs that things are turning around, but they are still baby steps.

Analysts claim that supply for the Pro models has "incrementally improved," driven by a moderation of lead times in China. However, lead times are still "modestly elevated" relative to those observed before the Zhengzhou COVID outbreak.

With ongoing challenges ahead of reaching more normalized levels of production, it is expected this could lead to "more muted" December quarter seasonality, as well as push revenue into the March quarter.

The iPhone global tracker puts at-home delivery for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus at 3 days apiece, the same as week 13 one week ago. The Pro models saw their figures dip from 29 days to 27 days.

In China, the base iPhone 14 models saw their lead times rise from 1 day to 4 days, which continues to track with the iPhone 13 and mini lead times at this stage. The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max saw lead times shrink from 39 days to 32 days.

For the U.S., lead times are stable at 3 days for the non-Pro models versus 4 days one week ago, and being comparable to the iPhone 13. The iPhone 14 Pro models had their lead times stay static at 25 days.

In Europe, times in the UK and Germany saw declines for the iPhone 14 pair at 2 to 3 days, against 3 days in the previous tracker. For the Pro, German lead times stayed static at 25 days, while the UK saw a small improvement from 27 days to 26 days.

The Wearables Tracker indicates supply-demand for the Apple Watch models and AirPods are "balanced."

For the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra, lead times are described as "Stable" at 6 days, 6 days, and 3 days respectively, against 8 days, 8 days, and 3 days one week prior. The second-generation AirPods Pro had its lead times remain the same as last week at 3 days.