• News

Apple (AAPL) says supply constraints worse than expected in Q4 2021

Supply constraints led to Apple missing both iPhone and overall revenue expectations in Q4 2021.

Bill Lavoy

October 28, 2021 2:20 PM

3

Apple (AAPL) today released its Q4 2021 earnings results. The company reported that it missed revenue expectations, and an important factor in that appears to be supply constraints.

In an interview with Reuters, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said that not only did supply chain problems cost the company in Q4 2021, but that the company expects the problem to get worse during the current quarter.

"We're doing everything we can do to get more (chips) and also everything we can do operationally to make sure we're moving just as fast as possible," said Cook in his interview.

It should come as a shock to nobody that the company is doing everything they can to get more chips, but it’s unlikely to provide relief to shareholders who saw the company report that iPhone missed revenue expectations, with Apple’s flagship product earning only $38.9 billion of an expected $41.7 billion. This undoubtedly played a major factor in overall Q4 2021 revenue missing expectations, as Apple reported earning only $83.36 billion of an expected $84.79 billion.

Those who chose to purchase a new device from the iPhone 13 family felt the supply shortage firsthand, myself included. My wife and I put in a pre-order for the iPhone 13 Pro Max directly through Apple the day pre-orders went live. We didn’t receive our orders until October 14, 2021, several weeks later. This experience is in stark contrast to previous orders through Apple, which tend to be fulfilled within a matter of days.

It’ll be interesting to see what sort of impact the supply constraints have on Apple’s Q1 2022 once the holidays are behind us. If the largest company in the world in terms of market cap can feel the chip shortage in this way, it paints a bleak picture for just about every other company that depends on these chips.

For more on Apple, as well as other tech giants and gaming companies reporting their quarterly earnings, keep it locked on Shacknews.

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.