Apple is reportedly being hit by ongoing chip shortages, which could see the company significantly cutting its iPhone 13 production goals.
That’s the claim being made in a new Bloomberg report, which states that Apple could be forced to cut its 2021 iPhone 13 production targets by 10 million units.
It’s said that Apple was hoping to hit a combined 90 million new iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, and iPhone 13 Mini units in the final months of the year. That figure is having to be revised, however, as suppliers Broadcom and Texas Instruments struggle to provide the necessary volume of components.
Apple informed investors of likely iPhone 13 component shortages as far back as July, stating that “We expect supply constraints during the September quarter to be greater than what we experienced during the June quarter”. Tim Cook spoke of an “industry shortage” at the same Q3 2021 earnings call.
However, third party reports since then have suggested that Apple would suffer much less than rival manufacturers from the global production crisis, with the company’s formidable purchasing power enabling it to “lock down chipset supply well ahead of time”.
It seems we should all have taken Apple at its word, if these latest reports prove to be true.
The report points out that these supply shortages are already weighing heavily on the company. There are delays of up to a month on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max models ordered through the Apple website, while a number of the company’s retail outlets list the new devices as “currently unavailable” for collection.
There have also been reported supply issues with the new Apple Watch 7 in recent months.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.