Apple Supplier Foxconn Says Shortages Now Easing

[chetzar]

Bought a M1 MBP back in 2020 so I plan keep that maybe for the next 9 years. You’d be surprised how long some folks keep their MacBooks these days.

Apple products last long and with great software support you really can stretch out those hardware upgrades.

Yeah, I think lots of folks get caught up in the "new and shiny" cycle. I'm still using my Late 2013 rMBP. Works great. Prior to that I used my 2006 Black MacBook until January 2014. I'll probably upgrade when the M2 Pro/Max come out.

Also ran my iPhone 7 Plus until the iPhone 13 Pro Max came out.

High build quality = longevity. Just because you can upgrade does not mean you NEED to. That said, I still wish memory and storage could be upgrade on the current MacBooks, as it would help increase their longevity.

 

[ryguy2303]

Which Apple products does this affect?

 

[jonnysods]

That’s a really screwed up market too. In my area, used car lots are gone, new car dealerships have zero new inventory and I don’t see that industry settling anytime soon. Part of me actually thinks, The whole ‘car buying’ dynamic has changed where it will probably never be the same again. The used vehicle consumer market is just insane right now with inflation. (Inflation percentages anywhere from ~20% to 25%.)

I just got my new 2022 Tiguan lease 2 Mondays ago. Ordered in November - I'm so relieved to get my hands on it, as our other family car is struggling, and I was terrified to have to enter the used car market to replace it. Now I at least have a failsafe. But when I went to pick it up, the GM and the sale guy met me outside and told me the second I don't want it, let them know as they will take it. Fortunately they didn't jack up the price on me.

I'm in Ontario Canada, dealerships have some inventory, mostly used. And now dealerships seem to only be able to get cars that a customer has paid for - factories won't make them otherwise. Crazy.

 

[macnchiefs]

Things may ease for Apple but for everyone else the lack of materials, supply etc. will continue.

 

[jz0309]

In my personal and professional opinion as someone who worked in the electronic manufacturing industry for 17 years I think the pandemic excuse has been used to hide a multitude of sins within the industry. Over those 17 years I've been to trade shows and exhibitions where parts manufacturers show off their latest products and show promotional videos of their production facilities showing how the parts are made and I can tell you roughly 10% or less is human labour with the majority being automated machines.

So if electronic manufacturers are saying parts shortage is due to labour issues on their production line caused by the pandemic I am calling BS on that because it only takes a few employees to run automated production lines. I bet if TSMC showed a video of their waffer process in making chips I bet you it would show less that 6-7 people on the actual production floor, the rest would be done by automated machines in a clean room process to avoid any contamination.

Parts being stuck in containers waiting to be shipped to product manufacturers in other countries I can accept, lack of raw materials due to limiting people being close together I can accept because harvesting the raw materials is very labour intensive, but parts manufacturers saying short supply is due to labour issue due to covid, nope, cannot accept.

there are many reasons ... semiconductor/electronics is a very supply/demand driven industry/process, it started with the auto industry cancelling "chip" orders due to no demand, at the same time the demand for notebooks surged due to wfh, so fabs shifted production, then governments got involved to get automobile prioritized, then a fire happened at a Renesas fab, then certain mags shut down due to covid outbreaks and the list goes on. There is a huge list of raw materials that goes into chips/electronics, if only one has an issue, there's a ripple effect. And yes, a lot of manufacturing is automated, but people still get sick, more so during the pandemic ...
so, labor constraints is certainly one reason, but not everything ...
To give you another example, just today Western Digital/Kioxia announce a contamination in 2 fabs in Japan not yet understanding what caused it, it is now expected that worldwide Flash/NAND supply will be impacted as much as 10% in Q2, leading to a price increase ...

 

[laptech]

...
To give you another example, just today Western Digital/Kioxia announce a contamination in 2 fabs in Japan not yet understanding what caused it, it is now expected that worldwide Flash/NAND supply will be impacted as much as 10% in Q2, leading to a price increase ...

Contamination will have been dealt with very quickly (within a few weeks at the most) so if producers start increasing prices then many people, not just consumers need to speak out because they will be ripped off. Very long delays I can understand but what the pandemic has shown us is that companies will increase prices at any opportunity they can. A few days delay, instantly calls for prices increases, 1 week delay, again instant price increases and I can guarantee you when things go back to normal, all the price increases we have seen will stay because that is how companies work in today's society.

 

[norbinhouston]

Yeah, I think lots of folks get caught up in the "new and shiny" cycle. I'm still using my Late 2013 rMBP. Works great. Prior to that I used my 2006 Black MacBook until January 2014. I'll probably upgrade when the M2 Pro/Max come out.

Also ran my iPhone 7 Plus until the iPhone 13 Pro Max came out.

High build quality = longevity. Just because you can upgrade does not mean you NEED to. That said, I still wish memory and storage could be upgrade on the current MacBooks, as it would help increase their longevity.

I still use my MacPro 3,1 from 2008 as a legacy computer for software I still like to use without having to go subscription. Still working fast and efficient. But I do have an M1 Macbook Air that is my primary. It'll probably last just as long!

 

[siddavis]

Contamination will have been dealt with very quickly (within a few weeks at the most) so if producers start increasing prices then many people, not just consumers need to speak out because they will be ripped off. Very long delays I can understand but what the pandemic has shown us is that companies will increase prices at any opportunity they can. A few days delay, instantly calls for prices increases, 1 week delay, again instant price increases and I can guarantee you when things go back to normal, all the price increases we have seen will stay because that is how companies work in today's society.

You've just described price mechanisms for allocating resources. No resources are infinite, so how do we divvy them up?
1) Price
2) Ration
Name another way and you could win some prestigious prizes.
Supply is impacted, you can ration to deal with demand (see iPad wait times), or raise the price which should lower demand.
If we don't like these facts, we should rethink the risk-reward calculation for the things impacting supply.

 

[masterhiggins]

Have their employees stopped leaping off the roof because of their working conditions? Or is it just no longer a concern?

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

All i keep hearing and reading is about the parts supply issue. Does anyone know what the actual issue was? was it lack of raw materials making the parts? lack of labour? or is it a case that there is a supply issue because the companies that make the parts didn't make enough? or that they are just not physically capable of making more to supply everyone that wants them?

It was loads of companies cancelling orders when the pandemic first hit, thus the chip companies winding down production. Then those same companies not only realised that was a mistake, but then increased their orders above normal levels as they realised everyone was buying extra electronics because of the pandemic. It takes a long time and a lot of money to build a chip fab plant, so there simply wasn't enough capacity to deal with current elevated demand, even after the fabs wound up to full production again. On top of this, there have probably been various shutdowns due to covid outbreaks in Taiwan, China, etc.

 

[svish]

Good to know. Hopefully no product launch is delayed due to shortages.

 

[dysamoria]

Anyone want to bet that no price hikes will be reversed as supply chain constraints ease...?

 

[TAZ911]

It was loads of companies cancelling orders when the pandemic first hit, thus the chip companies winding down production. Then those same companies not only realised that was a mistake, but then increased their orders above normal levels as they realised everyone was buying extra electronics because of the pandemic. It takes a long time and a lot of money to build a chip fab plant, so there simply wasn't enough capacity to deal with current elevated demand, even after the fabs wound up to full production again. On top of this, there have probably been various shutdowns due to covid outbreaks in Taiwan, China, etc.

Don’t forget that in addition to that we physically shut down factories as well. It wasn’t just a supply and demand mismatch due to bad marketing/forecasting. We actually shut down plants across the world. He’ll Foxcon just came back from yet another massive shut down supposedly due to COVID.