It has just been three weeks since the launch but Apple is already reported to have cut down iPhone SE (2022) production. The report is coming from Nikkei Asia citing sources briefed on the matter. The same claim has been made by Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-known market analyst, in a tweet through his official account.

The report says Apple has contacted various suppliers to cut down iPhone SE production by 2 million to 3 million units. This is about a 20% decline from the originally set production goal. It is believed that the reason behind the change is weaker than expected demand. Some are even speculating it to be a ripple effect of the Ukraine war and looming inflation.

On another hand, Kuo has tweeted that iPhone SE production is unaffected by the Shanghai lockdown. He believes that it is the demand that has been below expectations as the smartphone is listed "in stock". This has led to Kuo cutting down his iPhone SE shipment prediction by 10 million units. He is now expecting Apple to ship 15-20 million units as compared to 25-30 million previously.

Shanghai lockdown doesn't affect the iPhone SE production. However, the new iPhone SE demand is lower than expected (the delivery status "in stock" as one of the proofs), and I cut my shipment estimation in 2022 to 15-20M (vs. 25-30M previously).

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 28, 2022

The new iPhone SE comes with a design similar to the previous generation but there are a few internal upgrades. It has 5G connectivity, a new processor, and a bigger battery. The pricing for the device has also gone up as it starts at $429 as compared to $399 for the previous generation.