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Wasn't Cook supposed to be supply channel expert? I'm not understanding why Apple continually has supply problems, though with the X, it seems more acute.
Aside from many people's suspicions that this is an artificially created shortage with the intent of spiking demand,
I suspect that in this case it really is due to Apple not having been able to have the iPhoneX ready for speedy production ramp-up soon after their Sept keynote, due to the complexities of the TrueDepth components and FaceID, which they reportedly have been trying to perfect for over a year, for this their highly anticipated, radically re-designed anniversary iPhone.

Even the best supply-chain Guru can't speed up the overcoming of technical hurdles to a desired objective.
 
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Of course the demand for the X may well exceed 12M at launch, but I don't see it as a catastrophic supply constraint that some seem to imply since the numbers seem to be in line with previous years. The question will be more about how fast they can replenish their stock supply after the launch.
Your last bit is the huge difference: they will have been stockpiling X's for a couple months when it goes on sale. They have sold past iPhones (6/6s/7) at rates approaching 400k-500k every day, which means making them at at least that rate (faster if you don't run the factories 24/7/365). In contrast, the rumors are the X can't be built faster than 10k per day (likely due to maximum supply rates for key components, meaning Apple can't just open up more production lines). That's 1/40th the rate of previous iPhones. Once those 12 million sell out in the first 10 minutes, supply will be a trickle, and availability will look like the early days of the AirPods.
 
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Your last bit is the huge difference: they will have been stockpiling X's for a couple months when it goes on sale. They have sold past iPhones (6/6s/7) at rates approaching 400k-500k every day, which means making them at at least that rate (faster if you don't run the factories 24/7/365). In contrast, the rumors are the X can't be built faster than 10k per day (likely due to maximum supply rates for key components, meaning Apple can't just open up more production lines). That's 1/40th the rate of previous iPhones. Once those 12 million sell out in the first 10 minutes, supply will be a trickle, and availability will look like the early days of the AirPods.
That's true IF the rumors of 10K per day max production are true. But are they? To have 12 million stockpiled, they would have to have been manufacturing at least the bottleneck key components starting in early 2014 (while they were making the 5S). In what universe does that seem likely?

It's more likely that the 10,000 per day limit existed at some time before the rumor was spread. That doesn't mean it's impossible to manufacture those key components in larger numbers. It just means that they hadn't ramped up to full capacity and consistent quality. If Apple thought that was a hard and fast (and lasting) limit, they would have pulled the plug on the iPhone X before announcing it.
 
By the same token, its been rumored that they only started making the X recently, and given this is to be a flagship model, I would expect them to start the manufacturing process a lot sooner.

i doubt they're in full production mode yet for the X..
i think t.Cook is against having warehouses full of parts & products lying around.. instead, they'll have their suppliers worrying about (and funding) that type of storage then Cook&co have (or attempt to have) an insanely choreographed ship-in of parts to foxconn who can then assemble upwards of 700,000 units per day..

if they're doing 500k/day iPhone X and the 12million estimate is true, full production likely won't start until the last week or two of October..

being able to build like that is one of the reasons Apple products are so profitable..

that said, the manufacturing process started a long time ago.. for example, Apple ordered 70million OLED displays from Samsung back in March (or sooner) of this year.. those displays have been being made for the past 6 months.. similar scenario for all of the other parts.

----
there is a delay this year on iPhone X.. but, we've already seen it happen.. the phone is releasing 6 weeks late (Nov. instead of Sept).. that's the delay..

when Nov3 comes around, it will be business as usual.. they'll make the phones as they are ordered instead of making 85,000,000 phones in August and hoping for the best (as well as spending considerable money on housing the surplus.. as well as keeping the full line tooled for iPhone X during this down time.. etc.)
 
Wasn't Cook supposed to be supply channel expert? I'm not understanding why Apple continually has supply problems, though with the X, it seems more acute.
Cook used to be the supply chain guy, but that was handed over to Jeff Williams. I think Jeff is spread too thin (no pun intended) with also being involved with the :apple:Watch and the Healthkit initiative.
Although I find it interesting that they have had more that enough time to figure that the 10th Anniversary watch could/would be a big seller. With so many different parts to source, they should have made sure they had their ducks in a row and their suppliers could manage the yield rates. I know that the sales for the iPhone have risen dramatically, I agree with another poster that said they should back off on the amount of countries for the initial release.
I think all MR posters should be guaranteed first dibs...(Ha!)
 
Unless Ming-Chi Kuo has a different definition of 10k than we do, there is no way in the world that Apple has only been making 10,000 iPhone X models per day. If that is true, it would take them over 3 years to have built up 12 million in opening stock. You really need to get your story straight.

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/11/kgi-gold-iphone-x-possibly-delayed/

Where I am we used to play a game that roughly translates to "broken phone" and was about the "mutation" of an original phrase through the players from the first receiver to yhe last One. Sounds a lot like what happens with rumors.
 
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Hope I'm one of the lucky 12million going to be up late to get that 256GB preordered.
 
Where I am we used to play a game that roughly translates to "broken phone" and was about the "mutation" of an original phrase through the players from the first receiver to yhe last One. Sounds a lot like what happens with rumors.
in the U.S, that game is generally just known simply as Telephone.
:)

that notch is bugging me
maybe because you keep looking at pictures of it?
watch this hands on from iPhone event:


idk, in actual use, it doesn't even seem like a big deal imo.. like, it's not standing out in the same was as it does when you see the still images of it.
 
I think having one of the first off the assembly line for this one isn't a good thing.

Good luck to the first 12 million.

Let's hope your face unlock works better than the demo! Maybe that actual phone had a rejected sensor in it?

I think it's to be expected that the X may experience more hiccups than the 8 from a hardware perspective. It might be wise to wait until early next year as there most likely will be at least one factory modification to address a hardware issue in the weeks/months after initial release. There's really no test Apple can conduct prior to release that compares to having millions use your product for the first time.
 
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Well 12 million that seems like a lot I mean people hate the camera and cried like baby's about the black bar on the front. We should be good, right?

Yeah right I wish, the ones that cried the loudest are always the first to order, happens every year like clockwork.
 
I find it hard to believe this phone was not designed, developed and ready to go two years ago. This is a manufactured supply and demand ploy. Every year same old crap...
 
Just my thoughts but AT&T and Tmobile users will have the toughest time getting one. Where as over priced Verizon users and budget Sprint users will be able to get it easier. Why Verizon service is so over priced users most likely are not going to spend $1000+ for a phone. Sprint users are there for the budget / low cost servers and probably are less likely to spend $1000+ on a phone. Now AT&T and Tmobile they both have the bulk of the users and will probably get more stock but still not be enough. Just my thought...

Your logic is flawed, if Verizon customers can afford pricier monthly plans, they are more likely to be able to afford a more expensive phone. Sprint I agree with you
 
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I agree. It’s an over 1k phone, I think some people will have second thoughts about ordering it.

10 million for prelauch seems hopeful.
I agree. Plus the iPhone 8 & 8+ will bleed off some of the demand for the X. Only time will tell what percent of the market will go for the 8/8+ vs the X but I am still optimistic about getting one of those 12 million phones on the first day if they really have that many.
 
I find it hard to believe this phone was not designed, developed and ready to go two years ago. This is a manufactured supply and demand ploy. Every year same old crap...

People have this fantasy that Apple has a five year plan. From the trials we know that they're more prone to design about a year ahead.

In the case of the X, I suspect they actually spent the last two or more years on it, which is why they kept repeating the old design so long.

And from all indications, they only finalized things like no TouchId this past summer.
 
I think having one of the first off the assembly line for this one isn't a good thing.

Good luck to the first 12 million.

Let's hope your face unlock works better than the demo! Maybe that actual phone had a rejected sensor in it?
You're one of those guys huh.... pay attention to things and you won't make silly statements. the phone that "failed" wasn't set up for FID yet. There was a text bar on the phone saying as such.
 
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