Report reveals more Apple production struggles

Dec 7, 2021 22:26 GMT  ·  By

If you believe Apple is immune to the component shortage that has hit pretty much all industries out there, you’re absolutely wrong.

And not only that Apple has a hard time dealing with the lengthy waiting times for the iPhone 13 but the company even turned to a temporary production halt for several days, according to a report.

Nikkei writes that Apple suspended the production of iPhones and iPads in October at Chinese factories, mostly due to what the report describes as “supply chain constraints and restrictions on the use of power” in the country.

Needless to say, Apple hasn’t said a single word about this, but the news isn’t by any means surprising.

The company has reportedly missed its goal of building 230 million iPhones this year due to all the struggles its suppliers have hit throughout 2021. The iPhone 13 production in September and October was some 20 percent behind Apple’s targets, and previous models have also been affected, with the manufacturing running at lower speeds at several facilities.

Increasing sales in early 2022

On the other hand, Apple working around the clock on preparing its suppliers for accelerated production. The company expects sales in the first months of 2022 to grow, so it wants the iPhone inventory to be large enough to deal with all the orders it receives.

The production has reportedly been accelerated in November and December, and the company wants to maintain the same pace in January as well, especially as it struggles to reduce the long waiting times for the iPhone 13.

For the time being, however, customers who want to purchase an iPhone 13 need to wait up to several weeks to receive it. There’s no ETA as to when things could return to normal, but clearly, Apple is working on several fronts in this regard.