Ship times for 21.5" iMac slips to 2-3 weeks on US Apple Online Store
The U.S. Online Apple Store is now quoting estimated shipment dates for the 21.5-inch iMac at two to three weeks, suggesting supply constraints of the redesigned all-in-one continue over a month after the first units reached customers in November.
The increased ship-by estimates come less than a week after Apple's UK online store saw an identical slip, with previous delivery dates of 7 to 10 business days falling to 2 to 3 weeks.
A report earlier on Friday cited a Chinese news source as saying Taiwanese component suppliers improved production rates of the new iMacs, with mass production of the desktops supposedly ramped up in December of 2012. In Apple's recent quarterly earnings conference call for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, CEO Tim Cook said iMac supply would increase significantly over the coming weeks, but warned that "very strong" demand may keep the company from reaching an optimal supply balance until the second quarter.
Supply issues were first seen in early January, when AppleInsider was first to report that Apple's reseller channel was seeing stockouts of the 21.5-inch iMac model.
Thought to be a culprit in the slow iMac production rates is the complex screen lamination process Apple is using to reduce the desktop's overall thickness. Suppliers were reportedly having problems implementing the technology, leading to low yields. Production was thought to be especially poor with the 27-inch model, which as of this writing is sitting at a ship time of 3 to 4 weeks.
According to Apple, iMac supply constraints were to blame for a 17 percent drop in Mac sales for the last quarter. For the three-month period ending in December, Apple sold 4.1 million Mac desktops and laptops, down from 4.9 million units from the previous quarter and 5.2 million units from a year ago.
The increased ship-by estimates come less than a week after Apple's UK online store saw an identical slip, with previous delivery dates of 7 to 10 business days falling to 2 to 3 weeks.
A report earlier on Friday cited a Chinese news source as saying Taiwanese component suppliers improved production rates of the new iMacs, with mass production of the desktops supposedly ramped up in December of 2012. In Apple's recent quarterly earnings conference call for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, CEO Tim Cook said iMac supply would increase significantly over the coming weeks, but warned that "very strong" demand may keep the company from reaching an optimal supply balance until the second quarter.
Supply issues were first seen in early January, when AppleInsider was first to report that Apple's reseller channel was seeing stockouts of the 21.5-inch iMac model.
Thought to be a culprit in the slow iMac production rates is the complex screen lamination process Apple is using to reduce the desktop's overall thickness. Suppliers were reportedly having problems implementing the technology, leading to low yields. Production was thought to be especially poor with the 27-inch model, which as of this writing is sitting at a ship time of 3 to 4 weeks.
According to Apple, iMac supply constraints were to blame for a 17 percent drop in Mac sales for the last quarter. For the three-month period ending in December, Apple sold 4.1 million Mac desktops and laptops, down from 4.9 million units from the previous quarter and 5.2 million units from a year ago.
Comments
Of course, if the ship times decreased, demand is falling and Apple is doomed.
If the ship times remained unchanged, productivity is not improving. Apple is doomed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Ship times remain long. Apple can't keep up with supply. Apple is doomed.
Of course, if the ship times decreased, demand is falling and Apple is doomed.
If the ship times remained unchanged, productivity is not improving. Apple is doomed.
so basically Apple is doomed?
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Ship times remain long. Apple can't keep up with supply. Apple is doomed.
Of course, if the ship times decreased, demand is falling and Apple is doomed.
If the ship times remained unchanged, productivity is not improving. Apple is doomed.
I think that Apple needs to, going forward, be more realistic in pacing new product introductions so as to get demand and supply in better balance. Maybe it's just my perception, but the problem somehow seems to be growing worse every year (it started to get really noticeable with the iPhone 4) -- I don't ever recall Peter Oppenheimer going on along the lines of the (I am paraphrasing) "missing 1.1 million Macs, of which 700,000 were lack of iMacs because of supply problems" before in a conference call with analysts. (My reaction, listening to that, was 'fix the damn problem.').
I have a feeling that, given its scale and aggressive global new product introduction reach, supply chain issues are seriously beginning to crop up. And perhaps it's only going to get steadily worse.
It could be, in part, because there isn't a good enough "Tim Cook" equivalent paying the kind of attention that Tim Cook was, when Jobs was doing Cook's current job. With all that being a CEO entails, Cook himself is perhaps not able to provide the kind of operations oversight at which he was once so masterful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
I think that Apple needs to, going forward, be more realistic in pacing new product introductions so as to get demand and supply in better balance. Maybe it's just my perception, but the problem somehow seems to be growing worse every year (it started to get really noticeable with the iPhone 4) -- I don't ever recall Peter Oppenheimer going on along the lines of the (I am paraphrasing) "missing 1.1 million Macs, of which 700,000 were lack of iMacs because of supply problems" before in a conference call with analysts. (My reaction, listening to that, was 'fix the damn problem.').
Yup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
I have a feeling that, given its scale and aggressive global new product introduction reach, supply chain issues are seriously beginning to crop up. And perhaps it's only going to get steadily worse.
Perhaps Apple is asymptotically approaching the limit of available skilled labor. The more iPhones, iPads they make, the less they are able to deliver difficult to manufacture Macs
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
It could be, in part, because there isn't a good enough "Tim Cook" equivalent paying the kind of attention that Tim Cook was, when Jobs was doing Cook's current job. With all that being a CEO entails, Cook himself is perhaps not able to provide the kind of operations oversight at which he was once so masterful.
Perhaps. But deciding to launch the iMac before it was production ready was a decision made at the executive level of management. Did they launch it prematurely because Tim Cook's replacement misled his boss into believing everything was ready? Or did they become so complacent that they believed they could fix everything on the fly? I can't help but think that they brought this on themselves, and could have delayed the launch by 3 months. As it was, they took the unusual tact of launching it well after announcing it. Don't remember the last time there was such a delay with a Mac.
Maybe, but if they do that, the story will be:
Apple new product introductions slow down. Apple is doomed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Maybe, but if they do that, the story will be:
Apple new product introductions slow down. Apple is doomed.
Exactly.
I imagine that Apple is spending a lot of cash on a massive automation/plant and machinery push, so we should see improvements going forward.
Is being unable to meet demand as bad as having no demand? That depends.
Will they buy a PC instead? Chances are they won't.
Will they buy a cheaper Mac? Well, yes; they might.
And at the end of the day, this is money that isn't showing up on the profit sheet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta
Ship times remain long. Apple can't keep up with supply. Apple is doomed.
Of course, if the ship times decreased, demand is falling and Apple is doomed.
If the ship times remained unchanged, productivity is not improving. Apple is doomed.
Do you ever have anything to contribute to the conversation besides your tongue in cheek "Apple is doomed" nonsense? Maybe it was funny a couple months ago, to god knows who, but now it's just gotten ridiculous. We get it, you're a master of dry sarcasm. Accept this slow clap, and change up the routine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelligent
Perhaps. But deciding to launch the iMac before it was production ready was a decision made at the executive level of management. Did they launch it prematurely because Tim Cook's replacement misled his boss into believing everything was ready? Or did they become so complacent that they believed they could fix everything on the fly? I can't help but think that they brought this on themselves, and could have delayed the launch by 3 months. As it was, they took the unusual tact of launching it well after announcing it. Don't remember the last time there was such a delay with a Mac.
What's disturbing to me about this debacle is Tim Cook's much lauded claim to fame was his status and skill as "the logistics guy." This is three launches now under his watch that have been unable to meet demand because the production process just wasn't ready. He can blame anyone he wants, but if he was truly the "logistics guy" everyone says he is, this nonsense should have been nailed down before these products went on sale.
Ironic Maxims Are Doomed™
Better?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Ironic Maxims Are Doomed™
Better?
I like it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
What's disturbing to me about this debacle is Tim Cook's much lauded claim to fame was his status and skill as "the logistics guy." This is three launches now under his watch that have been unable to meet demand because the production process just wasn't ready. He can blame anyone he wants, but if he was truly the "logistics guy" everyone says he is, this nonsense should have been nailed down before these products went on sale.
Unfortunately, Cook doesn't run Apple in a vacuum.
The rumours surrounding the new iMac had reached the national press which meant Apple was probably seeing a massive slowdown in sales much earlier than they would have liked. In an ideal situation then he probably would have delayed the launch until he had enough production capacity to meet demand. If he had then sales would have been a lot worse. When you head up a company then you're often faced with two choices that are less than ideal. In my opinion, he made the right choice.
Also bear in mind that the new iMacs are built using pretty state-of-the art manufacturing techniques which probably haven't been tried at this level of production before.
Looking at Apple's history they like to innovate in an area that can grow to most of their other products. We first saw it with the original MBA with the aluminum unibody but now it's the grown to include pretty much every aluminum product include the Mac mini and Apple TV remote control shells, and the iPhone 4/4S antenna frames and iPhone 5 casing. It's quite astonishing.
I'm not sure if the iMac production issues are because of the friction-stir welding, the bonding process of the displays and/or something else entirely but I am convinced that Apple's investment into perfecting this process are not limited to the iMacs. I think they have some major longterm plans for whatever radical innovations are causing the delays.
PS: I think the same people that have been Apple is stupid for trying new things with the iMac are the ones that are saying Apple hasn't innovated in years. Can they have it both ways?
Of course if they'd done a simply refresh of the old style iMac earlier in the year they could have easily met demand and launched this revision when it was ready. Of course sales were slowing down the machine was a ridiculous 18 months old.
Apple screwed up in a HUGE way on this.
Again, what if there goal wasn't simply to meet demand of one product segment within one product category of one quarter but something bigger? Did they still screw up in a HUGE way? It's possible but there isn't enough evidence to say that is what happened. All we can say is that Apple hasn't sufficiently met iMac demand in several months.
Fact is that they sold less Macs this quarter.
Can you quote anyone actually claiming that?
See my reply to your first paragraph.
Changing existing products is not my definition of innovation. The iPod was innovation since it disrupted the market; the iPhone was innovation since it did the same; the iPad created an entire new market where people thought there wasn't one, so that too was innovation to me; the Retina MacBook Pros and new iMacs, however, are not innovation to me because they're both full of compromises without creating any new markets or disrupting existing ones. An awesome thing Jobs did was to simplify Apple's product line, and Cook is destroying that in an irrational bid for profit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelligent
Yup.
Perhaps Apple is asymptotically approaching the limit of available skilled labor. The more iPhones, iPads they make, the less they are able to deliver difficult to manufacture Macs
Perhaps. But deciding to launch the iMac before it was production ready was a decision made at the executive level of management. Did they launch it prematurely because Tim Cook's replacement misled his boss into believing everything was ready? Or did they become so complacent that they believed they could fix everything on the fly? I can't help but think that they brought this on themselves, and could have delayed the launch by 3 months. As it was, they took the unusual tact of launching it well after announcing it. Don't remember the last time there was such a delay with a Mac.
Well, Samsung is shipping more items and they don't seem to have a problem in their supply chain...
Actually, I firmly believe they pre-announced to show it off before supply chain leaks did. There was a leak of the internals, but nothing showing the incredible new design.
They knew when they would ship units and they hit their publically stated targets. The 1.1 million miss was all the people that didn't but a new Mac for two months waiting. Now they have a huge backlog they are workin through. They probably do have the kinks worked out by now, but 1+ million unit backlog in orders/demand plus new ongoing demand will kick your butt every time. I don't need an iMac, but damn I want one. I'm waiting for a 27" display with this tech/design.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vaelian
Changing existing products is not my definition of innovation. The iPod was innovation since it disrupted the market; the iPhone was innovation since it did the same; the iPad created an entire new market where people thought there wasn't one, so that too was innovation to me; the Retina MacBook Pros and new iMacs, however, are not innovation to me because they're both full of compromises without creating any new markets or disrupting existing ones. An awesome thing Jobs did was to simplify Apple's product line, and Cook is destroying that in an irrational bid for profit.
Steve was at Apple until 2011. As these devices take a couple of years to plan and put to market and any company worth its salt has a plan that goes several years forward, Steve is still all over the current Apple lineup.