Apple May Have To Cut iPhone 13 Production By ‘10 Million Units’ As Chip Shortage Deepens: Report

Apple has told its manufacturers that chip suppliers including Broadcom Inc and Texas Instruments are struggling to deliver components, according to a Bloomberg report

Representational image of Apple iPhone 13 and other models | Photo: Getty

New Delhi: Apple Inc is likely to reduce the production of its iPhone 13 models by as many as 10 million units this year.

While the company was expected to make 90 million units of the new iPhone models by December-end, it has told the manufacturers that the number would be lower due to a chip shortage, a Bloomberg report said, citing people privy to the development.

The report said Apple has told its manufacturers that chip suppliers including Broadcom Inc and Texas Instruments are struggling to deliver components.

The tech giant has not issued any official statement in this regard. Broadcom and Texas Instruments did not immediately respond for comments, news agency Reuters said in a report.

There is a chip shortage around the world and the supply disruptions have affected many industries. Major chip makers have said the demand-supply gap could continue throughout next year and even beyond that, the Bloomberg report said.

Apple, one of the world’s largest chip buyers, has also been hit hard. 

Efforts On To Tackle Chip Shortage

In July, the technology giant forecast that its revenue growth would dip, and that the chip shortage would also affect iPhone production after hitting the sale of iPads and Macs. 

Apple started selling the new iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max models in September. In India, the orders booked on the website are slated to be delivered by mid-November.

With the chip shortage issue getting worse, the US Department of Commerce has sent questionnaires to global chipmakers and asked them to respond by November 8, the Bloomberg report said, adding that lawmakers and executives in Taiwan and South Korea are putting up resistance to the effort. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently said he will work on establishing a chip production base in the country.

Earlier this week, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo talked about a $52 billion plan proposed to support chip manufacturing in the US, and said President Joe Biden would take the final decision.