With Apple gearing up to roll out its latest iPhone – most recently dubbed the iPhone X, after it was originally rumored to be called the iPhone 8 – later Tuesday (Sept. 12), one Wall Street analyst is already warning the device will be hard to come by.
According to a report in CNBC that cites MacRumors, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told clients that Apple suppliers were only able to build 10,000 iPhone X units each day, which means the model will “remain in severe short supply for a while.” In an earlier research report, the same analyst had warned that Apple was having a tough time with the manufacturing of the phone, which is expected to have a curved, OLED display screen. Meanwhile, back in August, UBS warned that the iPhone release would be delayed.
The KGI analyst said in the news report that the gold version of the OLED iPhone will have production problems that will result in “extremely low volume” in the early days of the launch. It could even be rolled out after the other iPhone X colors are launched, noted the report.
Late last week in the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the situation were cited as saying that production of the iPhone 8 faced a lot of manufacturing glitches early on, which could result in supply shortfalls and shipping delays once customers start ordering the phone later in September. According to the report, if the supply shortfalls continue beyond the period immediately after the iPhone release when delays are typically expected, it could hurt Wall Street’s projections for shipments of the device heading into the all-important holiday selling season. The production glitches that occurred in the summer set back the manufacturing timeline by about a month, the Wall Street Journal reported. The news report also noted that Apple’s contractor for the iPhone, Foxconn Technology Group, has been increasing production to meet the expected demand.