Apple may be working on the most exciting iPhone in years, but the company has had a rough start to 2020. Having already made one high profile warning impacting shareholders, now the company has made another which will impact millions of iPhone users.
Do not drop your iPhone right now.
Forbes Gordon Kelly
In a new exclusive, Bloomberg’s always excellent Mark Gurman has discovered that Apple has sent out a memo warning staff at Apple stores worldwide about stock shortages of replacement iPhones. And the impact will be felt by anyone who breaks their iPhone.
03/07 Update: The New York Post reports the impact from Apple’s warning is now starting to take hold for stores and carriers. In New York, store employees told the paper that “Wireless retailers around the city have either run out of stock or are running low on iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models as carriers stockpile them at nearby warehouses”. Speaking to numerous retail locations around Manhattan, The Post also states it was “uniformly told the same story of low stock and infrequent shipments, with little guidance as to when things might get back to normal.” AT&T, Sprint and Verizon staff all cited shortages as well with one Verizon employee saying “It’s a Verizon-wide issue.” With stock of iPhones usually highest in the US, expect similar shortages around the world. In the meantime, you might want to buy a thicker case for your iPhone.
03/09 Update: Bloomberg has followed up its initial report with news that the launch of Apple’s iPhone 12 may now also be affected by the outbreak. In research notes attained by Bloomberg, Bank of America analysts state they now expect the iPhone 12 to be delayed by a month (pushing it to an October time frame) with the upcoming iPhone SE2 / iPhone 9 delayed “by a few months [because of] “both supply issues as well as the weaker demand environment from COVID-19.” Separately, Bloomberg has also attained a memo from Apple CEO Tim Cook offering staff around the world the option to work from home. On Friday, Apple encouraged staff based in California and Seattle to do this, but Bloomberg reports that this changed over the weekend with the recommendation spreading to employees in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea and the UK.
“The company recently told technical support staff at stores that replacement iPhones for heavily damaged devices will be in short supply for as long as two to four weeks, according to Apple Store employees,” states Gurman. “Some Apple stores have also noticed a shortage of individual parts, according to the employees, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.”
Apple chose not to name the cause of the stock shortages but given it already issued a warning in February that the Coronavirus has impacted “worldwide iPhone supply” to the extent that