The iPhone 14 could be delayed due to tensions between China and Taiwan

• Financial

Growing tensions between China and Taiwan could lead to the delay of Apple's iPhone 14 smartphone. Apple is the main "customer" of TSMC, which supplies its chips to Pegatron in China, where iPhones are assembled. After the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, sharp reactions from China followed, and the situation between the two sides became even more "tense".

In addition, the Chinese Communist Party has banned the mention of Taiwan and the Republic of China in shipping documents, which means that some hardware components may be sent back to Taiwan, resulting in a delay in the production of the iPhone 14.

A Pegatron vice president and TSMC officials were seen with Pelosi during her visit to Taiwan, so all this could mean the start of a fierce trade war between the Chinese Communist Party and Taiwan, with US companies including Apple between them.

The presentation of the iPhone 14 is very close

Also, Apple is already in discussions with Taiwanese partners and has requested the removal of the "Made in Taiwan" and "Republic of China" labels. So it makes sense that well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's sources claim that some units of the 6.1-inch iPhone 14 will leave Foxconn's factory in India.

"My latest survey indicates Foxconn's iPhone production site in India will ship the new 6.1" iPhone 14 almost simultaneously with China for the first time in 2H22 (India being one quarter or more behind in the past)." he said.

"In the short term, India's iPhone capacities/shipments still have a considerable gap with China, but it's an important milestone for Apple in building a non-Chinese iPhone production site." "It implies that Apple is trying to reduce the geopolitical impacts on supply and sees the Indian market as the next key growth driver." This situation has arisen at the worst possible time for Apple because the presentation of the iPhone 14 is very close, and there are also rumors about problems with the production quality of the screen and cameras of the iPhone 14 Pro Max.