The visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan made relations between China and Taiwan even more tense. The impact is also felt on the mobile phone industry, and has the potential to even delay the presence of the iPhone 14.
The reason is, Taiwan is one of the centers of the technology industry in the world and many Taiwanese companies are partners with technology giants such as Apple and Microsoft. Including TSMC, one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world and Apple's number one partner.
Due to the heated relations between China and Taiwan, the Chinese government requires that all products shipped from Taiwan must use the label made in 'Taiwan, China' or 'China Taipei'. Apple also asked all its partners based in Taiwan to comply with these rules.
Apple's warning is not without reason. The reason is that the supply of components sent by Apple's partners in Taiwan to the Pegatron factory in Suzhou, China was held up at Chinese customs. Pegatron itself is one of the main partners in the assembly of Apple products, including the iPhone.
All documents and containers originating from Taiwan are thoroughly scrutinized so that no one uses the name 'Taiwan' or the Republic of China'. If any product bears the 'Made in Taiwan' label on the declaration form or shipping carton, the product is at risk of being returned to Taiwan.
On the other hand, Taiwan requires that all export products have a label indicating the origin of the shipment, so there must be a 'Taiwan' or 'Republic of China' label. To avoid potential supply chain disruptions, Apple also asked its supplier partners in Taiwan to prepare a backup plan.
This condition also became more complicated because the Vice Chairman of Pegatron and several high-ranking officials of TSMC were also present during Pelosi's visit, as quoted from GSM Arena, Sunday (7/8/2022).
This problem can certainly make Apple dizzy considering the launch of the iPhone 14 which is only a few months away. If any components are held at customs or until they are returned to Taiwan, the production of the iPhone 14 could be disrupted and the launch could be delayed.
Even without this problem the production of the iPhone 14 has experienced many obstacles. Rumor has it, there are some production quality problems for the iPhone 14 Pro Max display and camera lens.