Analysts with close ties to Apple’s Asian supply chain have offered their insight, stating it will be very difficult for consumers to obtain the iPhone X for some time after its release.
KGI Securities Analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, informed investors of the upcoming shortage on Monday:
“Due to component supply constraints, we estimate current production of the OLED iPhone at less than 10k units per day, which means the model will remain in severe short supply for a while”.
Doing the math, Apple stands to manufacture less than 1 million iPhone X handsets per quarter. Mr Kuo had previously forecast that the Californian-base company would make 4-5 million iPhone X devices in the first quarter. Some analysts project 5 million sales alone during the first week of the phone’s release.
Mr Kuo states the Gold version of the smartphone will be even further delayed:
“We estimate that the gold version of the OLED iPhone will encounter some production problems and will initially be available only in extremely low volume. There is even a chance that the gold version will go on sale at a later date than the other versions. However, we believe these shipment delays will have a limited impact on the shares of Apple and its supply chain members”.
Mr Kuo’s investor advice follows other new reports, stating that Apple’s new phone line up was plagued with production issues, causing a variety of delays.
TechCrunch state that whilst Apple will unveil the iPhone X on Tuesday (US time), it will ship the device to consumers later than usual.
In conjunction with the iPhone X, Apple plans to reveal the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus on Tuesday. Sources state these devices will likely ship shortly after the unveiling event.
