Apple Product Supply Issues Come To Light During Cyber Monday: What's Next?

Supply chain challenges have hit companies worldwide with tech giant Apple, Inc. AAPL as no exception to these issues.

Cyber Monday Confirms Supply Tightness: Entering Black Friday, lead times for 10 Apple products suggested a wider demand-supply gap than what was suggested by the company on its September quarter earnings call, Loup Funds Managing Partner Gene Munster said in a note.

Apple is quoting an average of 18 days for seven new Apple product SKUs in six countries, a slight improvement from 20 days observed last week, but higher than the typical lead times of 10 days for new Apple products going into Cyber Monday, Munster said.

Apple's guidance for an $8 billion supply chain headwind for the December quarter would imply lead times entering Cyber Monday of 16 days, on average, the analyst added.

Related Link: Analyst Says Apple's Supply Chain That Crashed The iPhone Party Is 'Transitory,' Views Sell-Off As 'Golden Buying Opportunity'

Lead Times Highest For iPad: New iPads model lead times are averaging 39 days, Munster said.

The iPhone 13 has an average delivery time of eight days, the analyst noted. iPhones typically account for just under 60% of the December quarter revenues, he added.

Demand for Apple's newest and previous generation products remained strong, the analyst noted.

The level of promotions in 2021 has been similar to the 2020 levels, with about 15 products eligible for an Apple in-store credit with purchases, Munster said. The company did not offer any incentives for products that are most in-demand, including the Watch Series 7 and iPad Mini, he added.

Demand Pushed to March Quarter: As has been evident from the lengthening lead times, Apple can't keep up with demand, Munster noted. The analyst said most of the lost demand in December will be captured in the March quarter.

If the four-day lead time gap continues for the rest of the quarter, the supply chain impact in the December quarter will likely be about $10 billion, the analyst estimates.

AAPL Price Action: Apple shares were up 2.13% to $163.65 Tuesday afternoon at publication.

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