The current shortage of chips in the industry affects even Apple that has a strong supply chain. In addition to the shortage of chips, the pandemic is also affecting Apple’s supply chain. According to reports, Apple will have to cut its iPhone 13 series production this year by up to 10 million units. Recently, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook said that the company is really struggling. However, he added that the company is putting all its efforts to ensure an adequate supply of the iPhone 13 series. In Cook’s view, the sales of the iPhone 13 series are satisfactory to Apple. Relative to the iPhone 12 series, the demand is very strong. Apple has not been able to meet the market demand well.
Apple’s financial report for the 2021 fiscal year fourth quarter (third quarter) shows that the company hit a revenue of $83.4 billion. This is an increase of 29% year on year. The company’s profit for the quarter is $20.6 billion, an increase of 62% year-on-year. This is in line with market expectations. Apple’s profit this fiscal year has hit $94.6 billion, far exceeding the previous record of$ 58.5 billion in 2018.
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Apple’s business is doing quite well
iPhone business revenue for the quarter was $38.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 47%. It should be pointed out that this year’s iPhone was launched on September 24. Therefore, this third-quarter financial report only counts the two-day sales of the iPhone 13 series. For this reason, the iPhone accounted for only 47% of Apple’s total revenue in the current quarter. However, in the fourth quarter of the peak sales season (at the end of the year), the iPhone revenue contribution will perhaps exceed 60%.
However, considering the latest supply chain issues, nothing is certain. There are even predictions that Apple’s third-quarter earnings may be lower than market expectations. This situation is not entirely a surprise to Apple. The company was actually expecting this position that it is in presently. As early as July, the company issued a warning regarding lower third-quarter earnings due to the chip issues.
Even though Apple has the strongest supply chain in the world, it is facing an unprecedented scale global supply chain crisis caused by the pandemic. This significantly affects Apple’s production capacity, especially the tight chip supply and the interruption of the manufacturing chain. The delivery date of Apple’s newly released iPhone 13 series, Apple Watch, and iPad Mini series has been scheduled for December. In addition to the new products’ delivery delay, even older products like the iMac will still arrive late.
