Apple misplaced $6 billion to chip scarcity and manufacturing delays in This fall, Tim Cook says

Apple at the moment posted robust earnings for its fourth fiscal 2021 quarter, reporting all-time highs for its providers and Mac divisions. The firm says it took in income of $83.4 billion, a year-over-year improve of 29 p.c, and earnings per share of $1.24. That earnings quantity got here in under Wall Street expectations of $84.85 billion.

CEO Tim Cook told CNBC that provide chain constraints had a transparent affect on monetary outcomes this quarter. “We had a very strong performance despite larger than expected supply constraints, which we estimate to be around $6 billion,” Cook mentioned, attributing the provision points to “the industry-wide chip shortages that have been talked about a lot and COVID-related manufacturing disruptions in Southeast Asia.”

The firm is recent off the launch of a number of new merchandise, together with the iPhone 13 and 13 Pro, a brand new iPad mini, ninth-gen iPad, Apple Watch Series 7, third-generation AirPods, and most just lately, the eagerly anticipated MacEbook Pro powered by Apple silicon. The newest iPhones weren’t launched till late within the quarter, however the iPhone enterprise as an entire continued to indicate robust momentum and was up 47 p.c over a 12 months in the past. The iPad was additionally up 21 p.c over the year-ago quarter.

Like different massive tech firms, and as Cook made clear, Apple is coping with main provide chain challenges: the high-end iPhones stay tough to seek out in inventory at Apple retail places, and its 14-inch and 16-inch MacEbook Pros are already severely backordered. If you don’t need to cope with lengthy transport delays, the best choice is routinely checking inventory at native Apple shops. But even that’s not a assured technique, and the fact is that purchasing Apple’s newest devices is harder than in years previous.