iPhone 13 Pre-Orders Open... Fourth Quarter Supply Concerns Persist

AppleInsider, Citing JP Morgan Investor Letter

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] As Apple is set to begin full-scale sales of its new smartphone iPhone 13, concerns have been raised about the supply chain situation in the fourth quarter.

IT specialized media AppleInsider reported on the 6th (local time), citing a letter to investors from global investment bank (IB) JP Morgan, that the possibility of iPhone 13 supply restrictions is drawing attention.

JP Morgan analyst Sameek Chatterjee said, "The increase in supply of the new iPhone lineup has been slower than usual," adding, "The production start was already delayed due to camera module issues, and it has gone beyond that." It is analyzed that the production of camera modules is the main cause of the bottleneck.

He also said, "The potential headwinds to Apple's iPhone manufacturing plans could affect 5 to 10 million units out of the 143 million units scheduled for production in the second half of this year," and "The seasonality of sales in Q4 this year and Q1 next year may decrease."

The situation is expected to improve starting in October. Analyst Chatterjee evaluated, "The closure restrictions will be eased on October 1," and "LG Innotek can flexibly utilize its camera manufacturing facilities in Vietnam and secondary facilities in Korea, so production will continue to increase."

The iPhone 13, officially launching on the 8th in Korea, is gaining early popularity despite negative evaluations that it shows no external differences compared to the iPhone 12 and lacks technological innovation. It features the 'A15 Bionic' chip, which improves CPU processing performance by up to 50%.

JP Morgan maintained its previous Apple target price of $180 despite supply concerns.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.