“Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus officially went on sales with lines forming at stores and a few folks who didn’t heed warnings that supply was tight,” Larry Dignan reports for ZDNet. “The larger question is whether Apple misplayed its supply chain projections.”
“Evidence is stacking up that the iPhone 7 upgrade cycle may be better than expected. The iPhone 7 Plus may sell especially well given its two camera setup,” Dignan reports. “What remains to be seen is whether the shortages are going to be more marketing or more forecasting.”
“Cowen and Co. analyst Timothy Arcuri said in a research time that lead times are ‘virtually up across the board.’ The iPhone 7 Plus is trending well above its sibling in demand in the U.S. In China, the iPhone 7 Plus supply may be exceeding demand,” Dignan reports. “Arcuri’s take is that Apple is being prudent with its supply chain forecasting and wants to see how demand shakes out beyond launch day.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s operations management is the envy of the world. They keep a very tight rein on inventory at all times which results in some supply scarcity at the outset (which doesn’t hurt marketing one bit – it only helps, as long as it’s not too protracted) and keeps the inventory levels within insanely well-controlled ranges throughout the rest of the products’ lifetimes.
No CYA. If one common problem with all the phones are found the 3rd batch will be v1.1. The second batch is being made right now to make up for demand.
There seems to be much less stock available for the launch of the iPhone 7 than there was for the launch of the 6 two years ago, and even back then demand severely outpaced supply. I wonder what went wrong in the supply chain this time?
IF:
– You believed the Apple bear bullshitters, the iPhone 7 was DOA. That would make the shortage, in your mind, the result of the Apple bear bullshitters being WRONG. Oops, the iPhone 7 is yet-another Apple smashing success. So don’t listen to Apple Bear Bullshitters any more.
– You believed the rumors that the supply chain was tight, then you expect the shortage is the inevitable result of Apple having to meet their deadline of announcing and releasing the iPhone 7 in September. Therefore, this is an inevitable shortage that will be alleviated as the supply catches up with demand.
– You believe that Apple held back supply, in some cases until as long as November, in order to create a positive perception spin on the iPhone 7, you aren’t paying attention to the vast numbers of orders being placed and people standing outside Apple (Stores) in order to obtain one. You also are clueless about Apple historical, perpetual, prize winning devotion to their customers and their well being.
IOW: No, this isn’t ‘smart’ (aka deceitful) marketing. If you can figure out a way ‘smart’ (deceitful) marketing can be applied to this situation, please post. (I’m interested and won’t reply with negation. i’ve made my points above).
If the pundits want short cuts in quality, to increase supply, get a Samsung galaxy 7.
Apple’s reiable manufacturers with a stellar track record of building high quality iPhones are few if at all plural…Apple is manufacturing all the top quality iPhones they possibly can non stop to suppy a wordwide launch in over 150 countries and working iventories for repairs if needed, that number is and unbelievably high production run.
If the pundits want cut corners in order to satisfy demand or high supply at the expense of quality, they can go get exploding samsung galaxy 7 models.
Apple couldn’t have a better problem and supply will meet demand within a very short time, just like it has after every iPhone launch.
I find it strange that I ordered my iPhone 7plus at 3:02amEST and am not getting it until September 26-28. When I ordered my iPhone 6, I ordered it around 3:30amEST and got it on the release day. So apparently they sold out of the matte black 256gb 7plus in one minute? No big deal but it’s just strange. Any ideas why?
It’s popular and others may have had a faster internet connection or had prepared their order on the Apple Store App and had it ready to go in the first seconds.
Same thing happened with the Apple Watch. My order went through just 3 minutes after my best friend. He got his on launch day and I got mine 10 days after.
“Smart marketing or forecasting?”
Innovation with quality design.
Not Steve Ballmer innovation, but the real kind.
Same story every year, but worse under Cook’s reign.
But then I forget Apple is a major corporation trying to make money…and could care less about its customers, sticking it to us with incremental changes and quality hardware while seemingly giving up more and more on the quality of its software…and ever increasing poor vapor ware launches…but…
Then I remember Apple is a major corporation trying to mak money…..