Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Apple Halting Mac Component Orders Due to Overestimated Demand?
Digitimes reports that Apple has essentially halted all component orders for its Mac product lines, apparently working through significant inventories of components delivered during an aggressive ramp-up late last year that may have proven overly aggressive.
Just last week, Digitimes claimed that Apple is likely to refresh its notebook lineup at the end of the second quarter, so it seems that suppliers may need to start ramping up production for new models in the relatively near future.
Apple frequently has to juggle its supply chain as it approaches product updates, seeking to accurately estimate consumer demand in order to deplete its existing inventories just as the new models are released. But if today's report is true, it seems that Apple may have overestimated customer demand for the early part of 2013 and is now finding itself with substantial inventories heading into its next round of product updates.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has also warned about reading too much into rumors from Apple's supply chain, noting that its "very complex" nature makes it difficult to accurately interpret what is actually going on from limited data points, even if that data is accurate.
The suppliers originally expected to finish digesting their Mac inventories in April, but are now stranded waiting for further instructions from Apple.The report claims that Apple generally provides shipment forecasts to its supply chain partners at the beginning of each quarter, but the company has not done so for the second quarter. The lack of information has reportedly left suppliers wondering when they will be able to resume production.
The sources revealed that Apple's Mac orders to the supply chain dropped to almost nothing after the Lunar New Year holidays. Apple had high hopes for its Mac product lines and placed aggressive orders at the end of 2012; however, the company is now badly affected by the decision.
Just last week, Digitimes claimed that Apple is likely to refresh its notebook lineup at the end of the second quarter, so it seems that suppliers may need to start ramping up production for new models in the relatively near future.
Apple frequently has to juggle its supply chain as it approaches product updates, seeking to accurately estimate consumer demand in order to deplete its existing inventories just as the new models are released. But if today's report is true, it seems that Apple may have overestimated customer demand for the early part of 2013 and is now finding itself with substantial inventories heading into its next round of product updates.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has also warned about reading too much into rumors from Apple's supply chain, noting that its "very complex" nature makes it difficult to accurately interpret what is actually going on from limited data points, even if that data is accurate.
Tag: digitimes.com
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83 months ago
Perhaps if said Macs were cutting edge in terms of performance and value instead of simply design, demand would not be an issue.
Just sayin'.
Just sayin'.
83 months ago
The biggest reason is that there's no real upgrades for people who want to replace their 3-4 year old machines. I'm currently running a 13'' MBP mid 2010, C2D 2.4 GHz, 128 GB SSD, 500 GB HDD, 16 GB of RAM and i can't see a clear upgrade.
MBP 13''? Why? Same screen, a little more processing power and SATA 3 for the SSD.
rMBP 13''? Again, why? Ok, much better screen, a little more processing power, but no 500 GB HDD and no 16 GB, 8 GB is the maximum.
This is fine for now. And will probably be for a few more years because it is not a numbercrunching machine.
And that is hurting Apple, and not just Apple but the whole PC industry. My desktop is a Hackintosh, i7-920, X58 motherboard, 24 GB of ram, all that, aside from RAM is from more than 4 years ago. Again, why upgrade? If it continues to function, I have no reason to upgrade for another 4 years.
MBP 13''? Why? Same screen, a little more processing power and SATA 3 for the SSD.
rMBP 13''? Again, why? Ok, much better screen, a little more processing power, but no 500 GB HDD and no 16 GB, 8 GB is the maximum.
This is fine for now. And will probably be for a few more years because it is not a numbercrunching machine.
And that is hurting Apple, and not just Apple but the whole PC industry. My desktop is a Hackintosh, i7-920, X58 motherboard, 24 GB of ram, all that, aside from RAM is from more than 4 years ago. Again, why upgrade? If it continues to function, I have no reason to upgrade for another 4 years.
83 months ago
Everyone waiting for Haswell Macbooks.
No. The average Mac buying consumer or business user wouldn't know what Haswell is.
83 months ago
And who are their sources? Are they even credible? :confused:
Mac's are not exactly flying off the shelves. Everyone's skint...
83 months ago
That is illegal. It hurts Apple. It is copyright infringement. You are not living up to your end of the bargain you made when you licensed the OS. The entire Apple community is suffering due to that sort of thing. It hurts each and every one of us.
How can you even admit to such a thing in public? It makes me sick.
Well, boo-diddly-hoo for Apple. I'm sure Uncle Steve would, in his youth, have done the exact same thing. I applaud the Hackintosh brigade. Apple don't offer a machine that suits them, so they go all pragmatic and make their own. Good luck to them.
83 months ago
You forgot that Apple drops support for older hardware very aggressively, even if that hardware is still perfectly fine to run the latest. If you want latest OS X, latest Safari, etc, etc, you'll have to buy new hardware sooner or later. Not because it wouldn't work fine on your current laptop, but just because of Apple's artificial restrictions.
This will be come more apparent the following years, since not even RAM will be upgradeable in the future. And of course, look at the iOS devices.
Apple is so aggressive in dropping support for older hardware that the 2009 iPhone 3GS can still be upgraded to the most recent version of iOS 6...
83 months ago
Har har. Seems Apple has underestimated the demand for a DVD drive and usability (SD-Card reader on the back :eek: ) and overestimated the demand for skinny, "thin" desktop computers! :(
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