We’ve heard from Apple themselves that they are experiencing manufacturing difficulties for the iPhone 4, and that was the reason why the White model was unavailable at launch, and wont be until later this month. Now analysts are beginning to spot issues in Apples supply chain and are lowering their predictions for the number of iPhones sold this year.
Analyst Shaw Wu said to investors that he is expecting delays in the first couple of quarters due to the “high likelihood” that screen supply constraints and inventory drawdown will impact shipments over the next two quarters. He noted that Wall Street consensus calls for 8.5 million iPhone sales in the quarter that ended with June, but he believes the number will be closer to 7.5 million — down from his previous prediction of 9 million.
Apple’s supply issues aren’t likely to be resolved in the immediate future, we’ve already reported on display supply issues which seem to be the primary cause of the delay in manufacturing. And with the iPhone 4 set to roll out to 18 more countries this month, good luck getting your hand on one.
What’s more, it seems that the cost to produce the iPhone 4 may well go up due to rising labour costs in China. Soaring labour costs caused by worker shortages and unrest, a strengthening Chinese currency that makes exports more expensive, and inflation and rising housing costs are all contributing to an increased production cost.
Now labour costs are estimated to make up just 7% of the iPhone 4′s final price, but companies like Apple rely on low cost, cheap labour factories to keep costs low and margins high. However since Apple already has a very large margin on all products it produces, they will probably be able to absorb the increased costs. So hopefully us, the consumer wont see an increase in the price of our final product.
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