Apple Scales Back on iPhone 13 Supply | Fall Short of Expected 90 Million Phones

Urian B., Tech Times 02 December 2021, 08:12 pm

Apple is scaling back on its iPhone 13 supply expectations. With that, the company won't be able to meet its expected 90 million phones.

Apple Expects Short Demand for iPhone 13

According to an article by Bloomberg, Apple told suppliers the demand for the new iPhone 13 line could fall short of the company's original expectations amidst constraints on supply. With that, Apple initially planned to ship out 90 million iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 13 Pro Max devices to its consumers. The company, however, decided to cut its production targets.

Apple is planning to slash its targets by 10 million phones due to shortages in parts. On the other hand, consumers have faced wait times on iPhone 13 orders of two, three, or up to four weeks ever since the phone launched in September.

Apple to Cut Back by 10 Million Units

Apple first told vendors that the company would be able to make up the 10 million units yet again in early 2022 when the supply improved. As per the report by Bloomberg, however, Apple has started to notice weakening demand which means the company no longer plans to hit its initial 90 million target during that time frame.

According to the story by ArsTechnica, this demand shortfall could actually be attributed to any particular number of things and could be hard to definitively explain. It is, however, possible that consumers saw the new smartphone as an inadequate update to the previous iPhone 12 which sold massive numbers.

iPhone 13 Upgrades vs iPhone 12

The newer iPhone offered marked camera and battery life improvements compared to the iPhone 12 but it seemed like there were little upgrades elsewhere. To add, the shortfall could have also been attributed to consumers deciding the iPhone 13 wasn't worth the long waits.

Another potential reason could be consumers reading rumors regarding the next model being a major redesign that comes with substantial new features. ArsTechnica also added that economic factors like inflation, the COVID-19 variant, and other reasons could have also contributed to the decline in demand.

Apple Shares Still Up

Apple, however, is still on track for a really strong quarter but it might not be as big as the company and its shareholders have hoped for since the iPhone usually accounts for around half of the revenue Apple generates. During the red market, Apple shares were still up by 3% despite fear of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.

As of the moment, there is still very little information regarding the 2022 iPhone flagship but some leaks and reports are saying that the upcoming phone will have a new design and could completely drop its charging port. There were also reports saying that Apple will unlikely continue offering a mini version of the company's iPhone due to fall in demand as consumers still prefer bigger screens.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian B.