“Supply constraints remain Apple’s only issue in meeting strong demand for the new iPhone 4S, with one new report claiming those constraints are being caused by limited availability of one crucial component,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“Exactly what that component is, analyst Ashok Kumar with Rodman & Renshaw did not not say,” Hughes reports. “But in a note to investors on Tuesday, he said that production of the iPhone 4S is likely to be constrained in the current holiday quarter ‘due to low yields on a key component.'”
Hughes reports, “In all, he expects total iPhone shipments in the September quarter to be around 30 million units, which he believes would be below Wall Street expectations.”
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Phillip Elmer-Dewitt reports for Fortune, “For the record, 30 million units is 3 million more than Kumar’s own 27 million estimate, which he described in October as representing a ‘strong rebound.'”
“Meanwhile, Susquehanna’s Jeff Fidacaro cites equally vague ‘supply constraints’ in a report that suggests a 2-3 million reduction in iPhone 4S builds for the quarter. Accordingly, he is reducing his iPhone 4S production estimates from 26-28 million to 23-25 million,” P.E.D. reports. “But ‘store checks suggest that demand remain solid,’ he writes, and when he throws in the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4, his total iPhone production forecast for the quarter is 29-34 million units.”
“Considering that Apple sold 16.24 million iPhones in the December quarter last year, that represents somewhere between 79% and 101% growth year over year,” P.E.D. writes.
“Not too shabby. Which makes you wonder why these notes are being cast as warnings.”
Read more in the full article here.