Apple is not immune to the global chip shortage that is affecting numerous businesses. As a result, the Californian behemoth faces a $6 billion shortfall in its financial year under review of 2021, which runs between July to September. Apple, on the other hand, made $83.4 billion in total revenue. This represents a 29 percent gain during the same period the prior year.
Cupertino, on the other hand, could have struck even harder. Tim Cook said in an interview with CNBC regarding his company’s revenue: “Despite higher-than-expected supply limitations, which we estimate at $6 billion, we performed admirably. The much-discussed chip scarcity, as well as production disruptions connected to COVID-19 in Southeast Asia, contributed to these limits.”
The lack of chips directly impacts the manufacture of the iPhone 13, which has a higher demand than the iPhone 12. Apple cut its production objectives in half in early October, and the smartphone is now out of stock in many of the company’s outlets. As a result, wait times for new devices are increasing, even for the iPhone 13, the least popular in the range.
Apple brand, for its part, promises to do everything possible to fulfill demand, but the problem is not only it is own. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Apple’s leading supplier, is also doing everything to limit Apple’s losses by prioritizing its other clients.
Nonetheless, the Taiwanese company had to postpone the manufacture of its innovative 3 nm architecture, reportedly forcing Apple to settle for the 4 nm, but nothing is certain yet. If TSMC announces a new N4P architecture to address this issue, the 5 nm process will be improved. This indicates that the scarcity affects the 4 nm etching technique, which allows for significantly higher performance.
