14 DAY TRIAL // Sources with knowledge of the matter said the initial iPhone X supply that would be available when the device goes on sale on November 3 could be extremely limited, mostly as a result of Apple’s suppliers hitting several issues in the manufacturing process.
Now top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says there’s a good chance that Apple would prepare between 2 to 3 million units in stock for the launch next month, explaining that all the production struggles are expected to be addressed in November.
This means that iPhone X production would reach the desired pace next month, with enough units in stock by the end of the year.
If until now the TrueDepth 3D sensing camera on the iPhone X was said to be the one to blame for the production issues, Kuo says that suppliers are currently struggling with three different components, but whose production should speed up next month.
Production issues with three components
First and foremost, it’s the flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) antennas the ones that require more testing, as the analyst says that Apple has higher requirements for this part.
"Special materials, recipes, design, processes, equipments and tests are required for antenna FPCB, as the specifications for iPhone X antenna (supplied by Amphenol) are higher than those of iPhone 8 and only Murata and Career Tech can meet Apple's requirements. Murata (originally with a 60% order allocation or higher) won't be able to resolve its issues before 2Q18, and thus has been fully replaced by second supplier Career,” the analyst has been quoted as saying.
The wide-angle camera FPCB also requires more work, the Kuo explains, and so does the 3D dot projector in the TrueDepth camera that is being used for facial recognition. The projector is the one responsible for scanning the face of the owner by producing approximately 30,000 points of light onto the face.
The analyst now expects Apple to sell between 25 and 30 million iPhone X units by the end of the year, but shipments are likely to skyrocket in early 2018 when all production issues are expected to be resolved. iPhone X pre-orders will start on October 27, while shipments will begin on November 3.