What you need to know
- Tim Cook says Apple is experiencing supply constraints.
- The CEO talked about the issue on today's Q4 earnings call.
- Affected products include the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
On today's Q4 earnings call, Tim Cook confirmed that Apple is experiencing widespread supply constraints to meet consumer demand for its products as the company heads into the holiday season.
Kyle McNeely from Jefferies asked Tim Cook and team about the company's supply chain and if it will be able to keep up with consumer demand through the holidays. In response, Tim Cook said that the company is experiencing supply constraints with its new iPhone lineup.
Specifically, Cook said that they are already struggling to keep up with the demand for the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. He also alluded that they may experience the same issues for the upcoming iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
"Yeah, I don't know if you're talking about iPhone in particular, but if you look at iPhone, we are constrained today. And that's not a surprise. We're at the front end of the ramp, if you will, and how long we will be supply constrained, it's hard to predict. I mean, we haven't taken orders yet for the iPhone 12 mini or the Pro Max either. And so those are coming. And so we shall see. But right now, we are supply constrained."
Cook went on to say that the company is also experiencing supply constraints in meeting consumer demand for Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch. He stressed that Apple is "working really, really hard to remedy those as quickly as we can."
"We are also supply constrained — for avoidance of any confusion — we're supply constrained on Mac, where supply constraint on iPad, and we're supply constrained on some Apple Watches as well. And so we have a fair number of areas right now of focus. And we're working really, really hard to remedy those as quickly as we can. But at this point, I can't estimate when we'll be out of that."
If you'd like to learn more about today's earnings call, you can read the full transcript.
