14 DAY TRIAL // The iPhone X is just around the corner, but unless you stayed up late on Friday to be one of the first to pre-order the device, there’s a chance you’ll have to wait a few more weeks to get it.
Recent speculation has claimed that the iPhone X selling out so fast was all because of the limited supply that Apple prepared for the launch, but according to several analysts, it was actually caused by the huge demand.
People close to the matter revealed that Apple experienced several production issues with the iPhone X, particularly because of the complex nature of a series of components like the TrueDepth camera. But Tigress Financial Partners analyst Ivan Feinseth told Reuters that Apple isn’t the kind of company that experiences production issues.
“No, there’s no bottlenecks. This is a company that manages the supply chain well,” he said, while Jeffrey Kvaal from brokerage Nomura Instinet explained the long waiting times are all because of the great demand.
Mixed strong demand and supply issues
However, not everyone believes the record demand is responsible for the shipping times of up to 6 weeks. Drexel Hamilton analyst Brian White says the truth is somewhere in between, with strong demand and production struggles likely to cause the increasing waiting times.
“Although we believe Apple is benefiting from strong demand from the iPhone X, the company is also struggling with supply constraints,” he said. “A sound debate around the key driver for the surging shipping lead times can be made by reasonable people. Thus we believe it was important for Apple to highlight the demand side of the equation for the iPhone X.”
Apple is expected to address production issues completely in November, with supply to be fully restored by the end of the year. Sales should increase in early 2018, analyst estimate, though Cupertino should be able to reduce waiting times for the iPhone X before December 31.