Nikkei Does Deep Dive Into Apple's 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Supply Chain Issues

At the beginning of October when device production typically ramps up, Apple cut iPhone and iPad assembly for several days because of supply chain constraints and "restrictions on the use of power in China," reports Nikkei.

iphone 13 pro max display bleen
In a detailed report on Apple's ‌iPhone‌ production woes, Nikkei says that Foxconn, Pegatron, and other Apple suppliers ramped down on production for the first time in more than a decade, with workers getting time off rather than overtime hours as is typical.

"Due to limited components and chips, it made no sense to work overtime on holidays and give extra pay for front-line workers," a supply chain manager involved told Nikkei Asia. "That has never happened before. The Chinese golden holiday in the past was always the most hustling time when all of the assemblers were gearing up for production."

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, supply constraints around the time of the ‌iPhone‌ launch cost Apple more than $6 billion. Cook cited chip shortages as one of the reasons for the supply issues, and while Apple uses leading edge nodes that are not affected by ongoing issues with chip availability, other manufacturers that create components for Apple devices have been impacted.

October reports said that Apple cut its 2021 ‌iPhone‌ production goals by more than 10 million units after Broadcom and Texas Instruments were unable to deliver enough components. The lack of even a single tiny component for the ‌iPhone‌ can impact production, and there are a lot of moving parts for Apple to deal with.

Nikkei did a deep dive into Apple's supply issues, interviewing more than 20 industry executives to see what went wrong. Apple reallocated components from iPads and older iPhones like the ‌iPhone‌ 12 to the new ‌iPhone‌ 13 models, but production was still 20 percent short of where Apple wanted to be because of power restrictions in China, lockdowns in Vietnam and Malaysia, and supply bottlenecks caused by skyrocketing demand for chips.

The reallocation hit ‌iPad‌ production hard and Apple produced 50 percent fewer devices than planned, with shortages on the tablets lasting well into November. With many ‌iPad‌ models in short supply, customers who order now won't be able to get a device in time for Christmas as delivery already extends into January.

According to Bloomberg, Apple recently informed its suppliers that interest in the ‌iPhone‌ is slowing ahead of the holidays, which could be due to the long wait times for new devices in September and October. Apple planned to make up for the supply constraints in early 2022 when manufacturing issues were ironed out, but Bloomberg claims Apple may not end up getting the necessary orders from customers.

Sources that spoke to Nikkei painted a different picture, and said that Apple has asked suppliers to reaccelerate ‌iPhone‌ production in November, December, and January. An Apple component supplier told Nikkei that Apple has reassured them that demand has persisted and that Apple has postponed orders to a later period because of supply constraints, so it's not clear which take is accurate.

Nikkei's full exploration into Apple's supply chain and what led to the company's current situation with chip shortages and production delays is well worth reading.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...

Top Rated Comments

SonOfaMac Avatar
50 months ago
Even Apple with its world leading logistics and planning is not immune from the current shortages.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GMShadow Avatar
50 months ago

With many iPad models in short supply, customers who order now won't be able to get a device in time for Christmas as delivery already extends into January.
Has for a little while, honestly. I'm mid January on an engraved 256GB Purple Mini 6, but non-engraved was only a few days quicker, and I ordered in November.

I still check the order status daily hoping for some kind of miracle. :D
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannys1 Avatar
50 months ago

Sounds like stock manipulation or a slow news day so let’s make up a story about one of the world’s biggest companies to get clicks.
As someone who runs an Apple business I can guarantee you it's not made up - the supply issues are an absolute nightmare at the minute.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomsop Avatar
50 months ago
Here is the solution - we all need to as a society take a break at this pace of over consumption - we deal with the supply contstraints by reducing our own demand. It will balance out if we change our behavior but will persist until it is so annoying and disheartening that price and delay cause this to happen naturally anyway.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Think|Different Avatar
50 months ago
No end in sight, sadly. And don't forget – this is affecting everyone.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
50 months ago
In other news, we had a drier season than expected and everyone said all our crop yields would be down, and now all our crop yields are down. Our reporter interviewed twenty farmers, demanding to know why bad things happen and everything isn't as spectacular as some shareholders somewhere imagine it could possibly be 100% of the time.

Jeez.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)