According to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, Apple’s U.S. suppliers reported stronger than expected revenue and earnings in the past week, which is a sign of strong iPhone 12 demand.
Mike Peterson for AppleInsider:
Seven Apple suppliers, including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Qorvo, and Cirrus Logic, reported earnings that surprised to the upside and beat consensus estimates by an average of 7%. Those suppliers also issued guidance above consensus by about 13% on average, implying a 12% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth after three years of flat seasonality growth.
Huberty points out that the delayed launch of the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max could explain this better seasonality, but supplier commentary also indicates that demand is exceeding prior expectations.
Huberty notes that lead time for the iPhone 12 Pro remain flat week-over-week at 25 days, the longest of any iPhone model at this point in the cycle. The analyst says that supply chain data and longer lead times support Morgan Stanley’s above consensus iPhone shipment forecast of 220 million units for the 2021 calendar year.
MacDailyNews Take: The Mother of All iPhone Super Cycles is now underway in very healthy fashion with strong iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max demand!
Of course, to offset the good news, there had to be the negative news of Apple having a MASSIVE shortage of iPhone power control chips because there needs to be value control for Apple. The news media has to use something to hold down Apple’s share price and stop it from running away. I would think any company is likely to have some component shortages if demand exceeds expectations. Usually a company simply ramps up that component production and the shortage is only temporary and hardly worth the news articles.
I’ve always wondered how Samsung never has any smartphone component shortages considering they sell so many different models. They must have some supply chain secret that Apple doesn’t have.