Supply Shortage
With Apple's launch of the iPhone X (tentative name) is one day away, some claimed that Apple was experiencing a serious supply shortage of parts among others. Given the fact that Korea has not belonged to the first groups of nations where new iPhones were launched ahead of other nations, Korean consumers will be able to buy the new iPhone after a considerable amount of time.
According to US-based media outlet 9to5Mac on September 11 (local time), an analyst at KGI Securities said in his latest investment report that the daily production volume of the iPhone X stood at about 10,000 units only. Apple usually sells millions of the iPhone in the first week of its sales. Compared to that, there is a concern that a significantly insufficient production volume will prolong a product shortage. In particular, the new “brush gold” model is suffering a supply shortage relatively more than the other models.
Apple usually began selling new products two to three weeks after their launches. The company has never included Korea in the first group of nations where they begin to sell new iPhone models. It is highly likely that Korea will be excluded from the first group of nations again.
The previous version iPhone 7 was unveiled on September 7, 2016 and then released in Korea on October 21 of the same year. Korea, along with Morocco, Uganda and Madagascar, were included in the 7th group of nations. The Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, the Maldives, Liechtenstein, etc. predated Korea in iPhone launches. Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore belonged to the first group.
The iPhone 6s landed in Korea 6 weeks after Apple took the wrap off it and the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 5S, six to seven weeks. This forced Korean consumers to call the iPhone a “six-week-wait phone.”
As a result, consumers looking for premium smartphones are more likely to opt for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or the LG V30 instead of the iPhone X. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus in addition to the iPhone X at the iPhone launch event because the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus are regarded as derivatives from the previous version. The iPhone X is expected to feature new technologies such as a 3D face recognition sensor, AR-specialized dual front and rear cameras and an OLED full display.
Moreover, the price of the iPhone X is expected to become the most expensive-ever iPhone, which can make consumers hesitate to purchase it. The iPhone X is expected to be priced at US$999, while the iPhone X 256GB and the iPhone X 512GB at US$1,099 and US$1,199, respectively.