The entire tech industry has been affected by supply chain
problems this year. We all know this but it appears as if Apple was more badly
affected by this shortage as we realize because Apple has to stop the assembly
of iPhone and iPad in October for many days.
It seems a huge deal, because for the first time in a decade
Apple has stopped making iPhones more so at a time when production would be
ramping up, not down. This shutdown occurred at the start of October.
At this time usually Apple suppliers typically ramp iPhone
production up to 24 hours a day. It comes at a time shortly after new models
have launched, and the demand is at its highest because of holiday period (Golden
Week in China followed by Christmas in much of the world).
This stoppage is as a result of few issues, that includes
the current shortage of chips, and also the surprising power use restrictions
in China. As a result of these restrictions, and with rising prices for coal, Apple
had to stop its manufacturing but they were allegedly put in place with just a
day’s warning .
Apple suppliers which were operating in more than 150
manufacturing facilities were affected by these restrictions. Lockdowns in
Vietnam and Malaysia also affected iPhone production.
With all these problems, Apple was left with 20% fewer
iPhone 13 models than planned, 50% fewer iPads and 25% fewer units of older
iPhones.
Things are
looking better, but some issues are there:
The state of affairs for Apple seemed worse in early
October, but since then manufacturing has reportedly ramped up again the
suppliers were told to increase production during November, December and
January.
But still Apple has to do some catching up because if you
order your iPhone now you might find that you have to wait for a while to get
it (depends in which region you are and the model you desire).
Things are settling down with the beginning of new year but
there still remains an issue of chip set shortage and pandemic is not over yet.
This was Apples first shutdown of its production in a decade but next one might
not be less than ten years away.