Global chip shortage has now hit Apple’s latest iPhone–iPhone 13 series–supply in India. Stores and online marketplaces are mostly sold out, and retailers and industry executives say supplies will remain erratic for the next few weeks. Even the company-owned online store is showing a delivery delay of one to five weeks. The pricier iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, which have been more in demand, have a longer waiting time, the Economic Times mentioned in a report.
“Apple distributors have informed us that iPhone 13 series supplies will be limited and will certainly be much lower than demand for several weeks,” the publication quoted as saying chief executive of a leading electronics retail chain as saying.
He said that while stocks are always an issue during an iPhone launch, the situation this time is exacerbated by uncertainty of supplies, longer waiting times and no commitment on the availability of any model.
The Covid-19 surge in countries such as China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines has impacted component manufacturing units, including that of Apple, much beyond what the company had initially expected, as per industry executives and media reports.
In July, Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri warned of supply constraints during the September quarter, primarily for iPhone and iPad.
The financial daily citing market tracker IDC India research director Navkendar Singh mentioned there is a component shortage — from the chipset to other key parts — as well as logistical challenges that are leading to this shortage of the new models.
“The shortage is one of the reasons that Apple is yet to commit to any launch date for the new Apple Watch in India,” said Singh. “There is relatively less of a supply issue for the older iPhone 12 series. Since they are now making many of the earlier models locally, those will be mostly available.”
Industry executives said this is the first time Apple has launched its latest iPhone in India in the first phase, along with major markets such as the US, the UK, China, Australia, Canada and Japan.
iPhone 12 likely to drive festive sales
“As India was part of the global launch, those customers who would buy from abroad or the grey market are now buying from the proper channel here. Hence, demand has been robust and more for the more expensive models,” said the electronics retail chain CEO quoted earlier.
While the company is trying to build up iPhone 13 stock during the Navratri-Diwali period, analysts said sales during October-December will be primarily driven by the older iPhone 12 models that are in supply.
Tarun Pathak, research director of Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said supply challenges for the iPhone 13 series were being reported in several global markets. “Some of the shipments are likely to be postponed to 2022, but we still think Apple will have 4-5 million handset shipments to India this year,” he said. “Apple has a strong momentum going into the festive season and it’s the iPhone 12 series that is likely to sell well. There, we don’t see any supply issues.”
OCT-DEC SHIPMENT PEAK
In 2020, Apple shipped around 3.2 million iPhones to India, its highest ever. Supplies during October-December usually account for almost half the annual shipments. The iPhone 13 series has four models with multiple variants within a price range of ₹69,900 to ₹1,79,900.
Apple has received almost the same number of pre-bookings for the iPhone 13 series in India as for the iPhone 12 series last year, which was over 1.2 lakh units — its highest at the time, the business daily mentioned citing industry executives. The company supplied around 1.3 lakh units of the new series to India for the launch that took place on Friday, they said.
