The holiday quarter is always the biggest for Apple, with the company raking in record revenues with every passing year. This year though, the semiconductor shortage could make it challenging to get your hands on a shiny new iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.
A Bloomberg report analyzed the availability of various Apple products and found that all recent products like the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, and MacBook Pro have a shipping estimate of November or December. The availability of new Apple products does tend to tighten around the holiday season due to heavy demand, but this year, the story seems to be a bit different.
The iPhone 13 Pro series has been on sale for over a month now, but the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 Pro is still tough to find. Even if you place an order today on Apple’s website, you’ll only get your order by Nov. 18-26. There’s a similar situation with the new iPad as well.
Many analysts expect Apple could generate up to $120 billion in revenue in the last quarter of 2021, thanks to a bevy of major product upgrades. Still, the supply crunch is an “elephant in the room” that needs to be addressed, as per Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.
Apple is not the only one affected by the semiconductor shortage, though. Google, Samsung, Sony, and all other major tech companies are also affected by this issue. Google is launching its recently-announced Pixel 6 series in only a handful of markets due to the supply crunch. Samsung has reportedly delayed the launch of the Galaxy S21 FE to early next year for the same reason, with its flagship Galaxy S21 series in limited supply in the US.
Given Apple’s size and product lineup, though, the company has done reasonably well to navigate the supply crunch so far, but it will have an impact on its holiday earnings this year. If you plan to gift your loved ones an Apple product this holiday season or Thanksgiving, it might be a good idea to get your order in as early as possible.
[Via Bloomberg]