iPhone 13 faces supply crunch, customers upset over shortage

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The wait for iPhone 13 is set to get longer by at least a few weeks, with most of the Apple stores across the country having sold out the latest version of iPhone13, and a global shortage of components looming due to Covid-19 restrictions still in place in several countries.

The more expensive iPhone 13 Pro and the 13 Pro Max models are likely to see even longer waiting periods. Industry experts said that only iPhone 12 and its variants are likely to be available during the upcoming festive season.

India may get 40-50 lakh units of latest iPhone

The Economic Times quoting Tarun Pathak, research director of Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said that iPhone 13 shipments are likely to be postponed to next year. He estimated that India will receive around 40-50 lakh iPhone 13 units this year. “Apple has a strong momentum going into the festive season and it’s the iPhone 12 series that is likely to sell well. There, we don’t see any supply issues,” he was quoted as saying.

The supply chain of crucial electronic components has been hit with a surge in Covid-19 cases being reported from China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

iPhone 13 marked the first instance of Apple launching its latest products in its first phase in India along with other markets such as the US, the UK, China, Australia, Canada and Japan.

“As India was part of the global launch, those customers who would buy from abroad or the grey market are now buying from the proper channel here. Hence, demand has been robust and more for the more expensive models,” the report said, quoting an unnamed CEO of a retail chain.

Supply crunch of iPhone 13 around Diwali

With demand for the latest iPhones increasing, last year Apple shipped roughly 32 lakh iPhones to India, which was its biggest such shipment ever. From the point of view of the suppliers and the retailers, the festive season is most important as October-December sales account for nearly half of all the annual shipments.

According to the report, Apple received over 1.2 lakh pre-bookings for its latest iPhone, which was similar to the demand it received for iPhone 12 last year. Apple had shipped around 1.3 lakh units of iPhone to India around its global launch. An unnamed retail chain CEO quoted by ET said that in context of the global supply chain hit, Apple was more likely to prioritise markets such as the US for their higher share of revenue to the company’s sales.

The iPhone 13 series has four models with multiple variants within a price tag that ranges from Rs 69,900 to Rs 1,79,900.