Estimated delivery times for Apple's 21.5" iMac begin slipping
New orders of Apple's 21.5-inch desktop iMac are now advertised to ship in 2 to 3 weeks to U.K. customers, suggesting production problems remain for the all-in-one desktop.
Previously, new orders were scheduled to ship in 7 to 10 business days before the estimates slipped on Monday. However, Apple's U.S. store continues to advertise shipping times of 7 to 10 days.
The larger 27-inch iMac is still advertised to ship in 3 to 4 weeks in both Apple's U.S. and U.K. stores.
The new all-in-one desktop is said to have been met with production issues when it launched late last year. Those apparent problems have continued into 2013, as availability remains limited.
AppleInsider was also first to report earlier this month that Apple's reseller channel was completely out of stock of the 21.5-inch model. If the longer shipping times from the U.K. are any indication, the company may not have had much success in improving production to keep up with demand.
Analyst Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities revealed in August, months before the new iMacs were unveiled, that production issues were likely. It was said that the screen lamination process in building the new desktops is difficult, particularly with the larger 27-inch model.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also publicly stated in October that his company would face a significant shortage of iMacs in the December quarter. However, no indication was given that the company expected any issues to spill over into calendar 2013.
Cook will likely shed more light on the iMac supply situation this Wednesday during his company's quarterly earnings conference call. Analysts expect Apple shipped 5 million Macs in the quarter, a year over year decrease mostly attributed to limited supply of the new iMacs.
Previously, new orders were scheduled to ship in 7 to 10 business days before the estimates slipped on Monday. However, Apple's U.S. store continues to advertise shipping times of 7 to 10 days.
The larger 27-inch iMac is still advertised to ship in 3 to 4 weeks in both Apple's U.S. and U.K. stores.
The new all-in-one desktop is said to have been met with production issues when it launched late last year. Those apparent problems have continued into 2013, as availability remains limited.
AppleInsider was also first to report earlier this month that Apple's reseller channel was completely out of stock of the 21.5-inch model. If the longer shipping times from the U.K. are any indication, the company may not have had much success in improving production to keep up with demand.
Analyst Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities revealed in August, months before the new iMacs were unveiled, that production issues were likely. It was said that the screen lamination process in building the new desktops is difficult, particularly with the larger 27-inch model.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also publicly stated in October that his company would face a significant shortage of iMacs in the December quarter. However, no indication was given that the company expected any issues to spill over into calendar 2013.
Cook will likely shed more light on the iMac supply situation this Wednesday during his company's quarterly earnings conference call. Analysts expect Apple shipped 5 million Macs in the quarter, a year over year decrease mostly attributed to limited supply of the new iMacs.
Comments
I was lucky enough to walk into the Apple store in december and get the 27" high end model. Got a $2600 model with i7, fusion drive and the 680mx. They had just received them and the Apple employe told me they usually sell out within hours on the same day.
Its may not be retina but its still spectacular, especially in games.
I've talked to local Apple Store reps that I gotten to know pretty well and they told me that they sell out every day from their daily shipments, the demand is fairly high for these products. So whatever production problems they have will get resolved.
Now, some of them are being assembled in the US and some in China. Mine was assembled in China.
These kinds of comments right before an earnings call are more likely bunk and a ploy to drive the price down a bit further to grab a few shares before the numbers come out and the price possibly goes up
Was that the 3TB FD?
I ordered mine 10 days ago. Still says it's Processing with an estimated ship date of February 8 to 15th. I got the standard high-end config with the 3TB FD as my only BTO option. My local Apple Store only had the 1TB FD option.
PS: Whenever I see/hear the word spectacular I also think of this scene from Seinfeld:
[img]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/19421/[/img]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Well it certainly can't be a demand issue. I mean c|net is telling us the new Mac is only compelling for "Mac loyalists", and we know there's not many of those around anymore.
There are better tech sites. I avoid referencing cnet whenever possible. I also hate the reference to mac loyalists. At their current size, it's unlikely that the fanboys make up a large percentage of their sales. They are about as mass market as you can get.
Production problems.
To be clear, you don't think there is any iMac demand, just production problems?
Or it means supply is extremely limited, and Apple is diverting shipments away from the uk in order to keep the wait time in the US down before the Earnings Call.
Hey its cold outside. The streets haven't been sanded so the truck s wont slip on the ice.
Considering all the reports that have been published since launch commenting on production problems with this line, yeah. Cook should have ironed out the bugs before launch like he normally does, but they rushed out an already delayed product in hopes of racking up some sales over the holidays. This isn't rocket science, Sol.
That is exactly what I was thinking.
I don't understand the new iMac's design. Who was asking for a thinner iMac? Why don't they just keep it the same size as the last and up the performance so it becomes more of a mid-range machine instead of being fairly low end machine?
1) People asking for and people desiring are not the same thing. I am certainly excited about the new design and it seems to me that many others are, too.
2) I've heard people complain that the iMac and MacBook lines are all thin enough and yet Apple seems to be making them thinner and they seem to get more popular even in the face of the iPad singlehandedly eating away at "PC" market.
3) I didn't ask for it but I also didn't choose to go with the 2011 model after seeing it. In fact, I decided to spend more money on a new one that I have to wait a month for instead of a cheaper, used/refurbished model.
4) They upped the performance. I don't recall a time when Apple has made something thinner YoY and also reduced the CPU speed. It wasn't that long ago in a much thicker iMac that they used notebook-grade CPUs.
5) For the life of me I can't figure out what makes the new iMac low-end and the previous one mid-range.
No, no, the Macbook and the iPad are completely different from the iMac. I understand why those are getting thinner, they are mobile devices. I don't understand the iMac getting thinner because a) it is a desktop and b) it was already very thin. Yes they did lower performance, the 21" model has a laptop drive in it now rather then the 7800 drives that were in the previous version. I used the 21" version in the store and it was painfully slow the 27" was moderately better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pik80
I don't understand the new iMac's design. Who was asking for a thinner iMac? Why don't they just keep it the same size as the last and up the performance so it becomes more of a mid-range machine instead of being fairly low end machine?
Unless the new iMac production process is a dry run for an Apple TV.... Hmmm....
Dude... I know you're trying to make a point, but publishing that screen shot is really not so cool. Just kinda obnoxious.