Monday, May 16, 2011

iPad and iPhone Shortages Could Cause Shipment Delays


There could be some definite delays in the shipping of Apple products including the iPad and the iPhone. One of Apple’s key manufacturers, Foxconn, whose factory is in Chengdu, China, is reported to be dealing with a shortage of parts as well as labor.

Digitimes is saying that the alleged shortage could, and most likely will, cause a stall in the shipment of Apple products, particularly the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2. Digitimes also reported that so far Foxconn has not directly commented on the possible issue. The only thing that they have said is that "the company's capacity is being arranged fully at the request of its clients." They refused to comment on whether or not the shortages would delay the shipment of Apple products. The company also went on to say that "it has experience arranging manpower to assist its clients in reaching their goals."

Although Foxconn isn’t speaking up about the problem, recent Apple iPad news seems to indicate that the shipping delay rumors could definitely be true. In Apple’s most recent earning report, they conveyed a decrease in iPad sales. In the first quarter sales slipped from the 7.33 million units that the company sold in the fourth quarter to 4.69 million units. According to Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, the company faced “the mother of all backlogs” with the iPad 2.

Cook even said in the earnings calls, "I wish that we could have made a lot more iPad 2s because there were a lot of people waiting for them."

The Foxconn factory that is struggling with the shortage issues reportedly has 52 different iPad production lines, and it supposedly can produce more than 40 million units a year, but obviously, things are not working out as planned.

One of the reported reasons that there have been iPad 2 supply problems is a leaky touch screen, but this issue has supposedly been fixed. Besides the comments that Cook made during Apple’s earnings report, the company has not commented on anything surrounding the issue.

Hopefully, Foxconn and Apple will figure out all of the shipping issues, and there won’t be big delays on their products; or if there are going to be major delays, I hope that the companies will be upfront and discuss the issues with the public. We’ll just have to wait to see how everything turns out.


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