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Apple is struggling to make enough iPhones at its assembly plant in Zhengzhou, China, thanks to a COVID-19 lockdown. And while Apple has expanded production to other countries in recent years, the unprecedented announcement shows how dependent the world's largest company is on China.

“One reason for the shortage is that Apple is producing fewer iPhones in China. The country’s zero-COVID policy has led to a decline in iPhone production, and other factors may also be contributing. For example, some suppliers are not yet ready to produce high-quality iPhones,” Jeroen van Gils, managing director at technology company Lifi.co, told Lifewire via email.

Apple’s China problem is twofold. First, the company makes virtually all of its products there. Some Macs are built in the US, and some iPhones are made in India and Vietnam, but those are tiny startups compared to those in China. And when we say “China,” we actually mean one company, Foxconn. This is a classic case of putting all your eggs in one basket, and while the Chinese supply chain has historically been robust and capable of building millions and millions of iPhones, we’ve seen that start to falter in recent years.