The Supply Chain Matters blog provides a follow-up to prior commentaries related to Foxconn Technology, as well as Apple’s efforts in the availability of the newly announced iPhone13 during the current holiday quarter.
Reuters reported on Friday that the global contract manufacturing services (CMS) provider warned investors that Q4 consumer electronics manufacturing revenues could slip vs. year-ago levels. The Apple CMS services provider further warned that the ongoing global semiconductor chip shortage would extend to the second half of 2022, prompting a more cautious outlook for the coming year. These warnings came after the CMS reported a 20 percent increase in third-quarter revenues.
Foxconn chairman Liu Young is cited as indicating: “If not for supply shortages, prospects for the fourth quarter could have been better” He further added that supplies of power management chips remained tight, and the global chip shortage could last longer than Foxconn had previously assumed in Q2.
Regarding the current Q4 holiday fulfillment quarter, Foxconn now anticipates that revenues will fall between a range of 3 percent to 15 percent. Reportedly, analysts expected the latter number to be an 11 percent drop.
The Reuters report further indicated that analysts had assumed the CMS secured more than 75 percent of assembly orders for the latest Apple iPhone13.
From our Supply Chain Matters lens, this latest information reinforces that Apple and Foxconn are indeed addressing best efforts to overcome supply network challenges, but realities are what they are. These developments reinforce that even the most influential high tech and consumer supply networks are not immune to the ongoing 2021 supply chain disruptions.
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