Future supply chain

By Malcolm Owen Tuesday, December 11, 2018, 05:08 am PT (08:08 am ET) TSMC and Foxconn, two of Apple's major iPhone production partners, have reported street-beating revenue for November, casting some doubt on supply chain reports suggesting component suppliers are struggling following iPhone production cuts. Apple CEO Tim Cook at a Chinese Foxconn factory. Assembly partner Foxconn's revenue in November reached NT$601.4 billion ($19.5 billion), buoyed by the production of new models including the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. The revenue level was a record for the month and also brings the company's sales growth for the January to November period to almost 16 percent. Apple A-series chip producer TSMC achieved NT$98.4 billion ($3.2 billion) in sales for the month, representing a year-on-year growth of 5.6 percent, reports Bloomberg. While there is some reduction in growth from October, this is said to be a solid level of revenue for the chip maker. The revelations from … [Read more...] about TSMC and Foxconn revenues up, contrary to dour iPhone supply chain forecasts

Editorial By Daniel Eran Dilger Monday, November 19, 2018, 05:57 am PT (08:57 am ET) Several prominent news sources are again blowing a cloud of speculative rumor-mongering that claims Apple's iPhone sales are —perhaps! —in desperate straights. Revised revenue reports from just five firms--out of Apple's 200 primary suppliers--are at the core of these reports, so take a look at how flimsy these conclusions are. Apple's complex supply chain is producing a wider range of iPhones than ever Low-hanging Supply Chain fruit is hard for large venues to pass up Troubles at component producers in Apple's supply chain have once again been cited as evidence that iPhone demand must be weaker than expected. This was very wrong last year, and every year for at least the last five generations of iPhones. In fact, it was five years ago that Benedict Evans tweeted, "after the past couple of years, people really ought to have learned that supply chain production volume rumours for … [Read more...] about Poor news curation at Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters creating misleading iPhone supply chain panic

Editorial By Daniel Eran Dilger Thursday, November 15, 2018, 04:20 am PT (07:20 am ET) It might sound bad for investors long on Apple that the company's stock price has dipped so dramatically once again on new reports that claim supply chain rumors are somehow, suddenly a good way to forecast iPhone sales after being completely wrong year after year. But that's wrong, and here's why. In reality, shareholders who don't panic actually benefit from the wild swings of transparent stock price manipulation because Apple is buying back incredible billions worth of its own shares, regardless of the price. The lower those shares reach, obviously, the better the return for the finite cash Apple has left to spend on buybacks this year. An unquestionable truth that nobody talks about When Apple's fiscal Q1 2019 officially began in October, there were a few things that were well known. Apple was going to report industry-leading revenues and earnings which it did November 1, crowds globally were … [Read more...] about Supply chain channel check stories hurting skittish investors, enriching Apple’s shareholders