“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.