Apple Expecting iPhone and iPad Supply Constraints in September Quarter
During today’s earnings call covering the third fiscal quarter of 2021 (second calendar quarter), Apple CFO Luca Maesteri said that Apple is expecting supply constraints to affect the iPhone and the iPad in the coming quarter.
“The supply constraints that we’ve seen in the June quarter will be higher in the September quarter,” said Maestri. The constraints will impact iPhone and iPad sales in particular.
It is not clear if these predicted supply constraints will affect the iPhone 13 models that are expected to launch in September.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked whether the supply constraints will continue into the holiday quarter, but Cook said that he doesn’t want to predict that. “We’re going to take it one quarter at a time,” he said. “We will do everything we can to mitigate whatever set of circumstances we’re dealt.
Cook said that though Apple is expecting supply constraints, component costs in the aggregate have declined, but Apple is currently paying out more for freight than it would like.